


Criminal Love

by OfficialFlannel



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Brotherly Angst, Brothers, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Happy Tree Friends - Freeform, Rain, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-10-16 09:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17547185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficialFlannel/pseuds/OfficialFlannel
Summary: After yet another failed robbery, Lifty is kicked out by an angry Shifty. Now with nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Lifty ends up in the care of a certain redhead. Can Flaky help the homeless thief and show him there is more to life than stealing? And maybe learn a few things herself?





	1. The Final Failure

Alarms screamed and wailed as two green-haired twins carried several bags of stolen good back through the small store to their beat-up van parked outside the main door. The taller twin set down his pile of bags and went to go start up the truck. The shorter twin started to throw his own bags into the opened up back of the van but stopped as he saw something flying very fast towards their location. Realizing what that was, he called out to his brother.

"Shit! Splendid is coming, Shifty!"

"Not now, Lifty!", yelled Shifty, who then growled in annoyance as he tried to start the van's engine, only to be rewarded with a choked sputtering sound every time he turned the key. "Damn it, this stupid hunk of junk! Get the bags now!"

Lifty went faster, throwing bag after bag in the back, trying not to focus on the sound of the wannabe superhero getting closer every second and wasted no time throwing the last bag in the back and quickly running to the front of the van. Shifty was just about to punch the steering wheel in anger when the van's engine roared to life. He let a happy cheer as Lifty jumped into the passenger seat. Just as Shifty was about to gun it, they were nearly shaken from their seats as something crashed down in front of their van. Splendid had finally arrived, the superhero looking at the thieves, smiling triumphantly.

"You guys better just give up. You can't get away from the law. Or me."

The twins looked him and then back at each other with a bored expression, only for Lifty give a smug grin, his brother mirroring him moments later.

"Hey Shifty."

"Yes, brother?"

"Would you kindly press that little pedal under your foot?"

"Oh! You mean this one, dear brother?"

Shifty's grin grew wider as he motioned his head downwards towards the gas and before Splendid could even react, the thief slammed his foot down and the van shot forward, slamming into the blue-haired hero and running him over. The twins laughed in victory as they drove away from their crime scene. Their victory was cut short though, by a loud crash and the sound of tumbling metal behind them. Both twins froze for a few seconds before Shifty turned to Lifty, whose face was a mask of guilt.

"Lifty. . ."

"Yes, Shifty. . ."

"You forget to close the back doors. . .didn't you?"

Yes, Shifty. . ."

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the thieving twins got back to their run-down shack of a house, Lifty knew he was going to get it. Lifty followed a strangely quiet Shifty inside their house and watched as Shifty started to gather up everything Lifty owned in a trash bag. Lifty stepped in front of him as he started to make his way to the door.

"Whoa, whoa! Bro, whaddya doing?! That's my stuff!"

 "Exactly. Why would I want the stuff of someone who doesn't live here in **_my_** house?"

Lifty's heart sunk as he realized what his brother was saying, "Wait, you're kicking me out? You can't do that!"

Shifty dropped the bag and whirled on Lifty, his finger jabbing into his younger brother's chest, his eyes full of anger as Lifty tried to back away in fear of being hit.

" ** _Because you are a fucking moron_**. Every time we try to pull off a heist. Who fucks it up? **_You_**! Every time I come with up a nearly fool-proof plan to get rich. Who fucks it up? **_You!_** "

"You can't be serious-"

"I'm dead fucking serious. Get out. Get out and never come back. You aren't my brother no more."

Shifty grabbed his brother by the collar of his long coat and before Lifty could even blink, his face was in the dirt and his belongings were thrown out beside him. Getting up and wiping the dirt from his cheeks, Lifty rushed back to the front door to try and pull it open, only to find that Shifty had locked the door. He sighed and realized his brother was serious. He was actually being kicked out for real.

Then Lifty saw his stuff in the bag and decided to gather it up, slinging the bag over his shoulder. Guess he should find some place to stay for the night. He turned and looked back at his house one more time before setting off down the road. It took a few minutes of walking to see other buildings, mainly shops. As he approached each one though, the owners realized who he was and locked their doors, baring him from coming in. Ignoring that, Lifty came to the town's park and set his stuff under a tree, sinking down beside it as he sighed.

"This day **_cannot_** get any worse."

Then as though God was listening in on the thief's words and wanted to prove him wrong, the sky's clouds darkened and thunder rumbled overhead moments before the rain started to pour down heavily on him, the tree offering little in the way of shelter.

"Fucking fantastic. . ."


	2. Raining Red

Lifty shivered as he pressed his body against the tree and wrapped his arms around himself to try to keep himself warm from the seemingly never-ending cold rain. He rummaged through the bag of his belongings, hoping to find something else to wear over his already soaked clothes. But to his dismay, the only things Shifty threw out to him weren't clothes, but mostly useless junk. He growled and threw the bag in anger, watching as the plastic bag flew through the air and landed a few feet away outside the shelter of the tree.

Lifty got up from his spot and started to walk, holding his coat's collar against his face to try and shield him from the rain. He stepped out onto the street and started to walk across when a car came out of nowhere, heading straight for him. Lifty didn't move, to frozen with fear to be able to. But the car screeched to a halt inches from him, the headlights and rain blinding Lifty as he tried to see who nearly hit him. Suddenly a feminine voice, laced with worry, called out from the vehicle.

"Oh m-my gosh! I'm so sorry! I d-didn't see you walking in the rain! A-are you okay?"

Lifty let out a sigh as he realized who that voice belonged to: Flaky, a red-haired girl who was scared of everything and was always easy pickings for being robbed by him and his brother. Lifty wiped the water from his face as he walked over to her car's window where Flaky's face peered out from it.

"Jesus, can't you see I'm walking here?!"

The redhead bit her lip nervously as she stuttered out, "S-Sorry. Like I said, I couldn't see you cause of t-the rain. . ."

"Why are you even out here in this shit?"

"I could ask you the s-same thing. Where's your b-brother at?"

Lifty shook his head and grunted, "Bastard kicked me out. Said I wasn't his brother no more."

Flaky frowned, "Well . . .do y-you want to stay with me for the night? Instead of staying out in t-the rain?"

Lifty raised an eyebrow in confusion, completely baffled as to why she was letting him for all people stay in her house. Alone. With her. Didn't she remember all the times he and his brother robbed her? Or stole from her? But he didn't care if she did, all he wanted was a warm bed and some dry clothes. So he shrugged and gave her a nod.

"Fuck it, why not? Beats freezing to death out here in this crap."

Flaky took that as a yes and unlocked her car's doors, rolling her window back up as she did. Lifty climbed into the car, his clothes making a wet squishing sound as he laid down on the cushiony backseats. Flaky stared at the thief in the rearview, but quickly averted her gaze as he caught her, an annoyed gleam in his eye.

"Whaddya staring at, Red?"

Flaky kept her eyes on the road as she started the drive back to her house, "N-Nothing. You just look a little. . .wet, is all."

Lifty snorted in contempt and didn't answer, so Flaky just continued driving. Driving with the town criminal in her backseat.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Flaky and Lifty entered her house, Flaky sat him down on her couch and told him to wait. She left him, going down a hallway and into a room. She came back several moments later with a cardboard box filled with clothes, setting them down at his feet. He looked down at the box and back up her with a confused face.

"What are these for?"

"Like I said," Flaky gestured to the thief's clothes, still slick with water, "You look a little w-wet."

Lifty nodded in understanding and stood up. He started to peel off his wet clothes without warning, causing the redhead to squeak and turn as red as her hair, covering her face until he put on some dry clothes. She peeked out from her fingers and let out a sigh of relief as she saw he had pants on again. Lifty seemed unfazed by her embarrassment as he sat back down on the couch without a word. Flaky left for the second time, coming back with a blanket and a pillow and handed them to him.

"You can s-sleep here for the night. If you need anything, I'll be in my room down the hall, the last door on your r-right."

Lifty nodded and got comfortable, laying down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He now started to feel just how tired he really was, after the night's events and shut his eyes, drifting off within seconds. Flaky started to leave, turning to look at the thief's sleeping form.

"Goodnight, Lifty. S-Sweet dreams."

She didn't get an answer right away, so she left the living room, heading back to her own room. But she didn't notice the small smile that appeared on his face as she left or hear him whisper.

"Night, Red."


	3. Wakey, Wakey! Chest Pains And Bakey!

"Lifty, wake up!"

"No."

"It's almost n-noon!"

"Eh. . .five more minutes."

It was late in the next day's morning, Flaky having woke up a few hours before and had been trying for the past half an hour to try and wake up her new houseguest. She had tried bribing him with money, throwing open the curtains to let the morning's sunlight pour in the room, and even trickled water on the thief's head. Lifty simply ignored her attempts, covering his head with the blanket and kept trying to doze off. Flaky huffed in annoyance but soon brightened with a smile as she had an idea.

"Lifty, You have five seconds to get up b-before I do something!"

The only reply that came from the lumpy blanket was a tired chuckle followed by an amused voice, "Ooh, something. I'm so scared."

Flaky walked over to the side of the couch, lifting herself up on the armrest of the sofa. She wobbled slightly and fear held her as she wondered what would happen if she toppled backward instead. She calmed herself and managed to stand still, staring down Lifty's sleeping form.

"O-Okay, I warned you!"

Flaky let herself go limp and fell forward, slamming her entire body weight onto the thief. He let loose of grunt of surprise and pain as he shot up almost instantly, sending the girl tumbling to the carpeted floor. Lifty stared at the redhead and glared at her, rubbing his now sore chest.

"Whaddya do that for? Trying to fuckin' kill me?"

Flaky beamed up at him, satisfied that he was finally up, "Nope! But you're a-awake now, aren't you?"

Lifty grumbled how he was going to have a bruise now, but threw the blanket off of himself and sat up. Not long after Flaky muttered, mostly to herself, that she was going to make a late breakfast for the two of them and left the thief alone in her living room. Now being in the room with sunlight flooding it, Lifty could see more of the room's furnishings and details: the small television hung on the wall in front of him and a coffee table was situated between the T.V. and the small couch he called a bed. It felt homey. It felt comfortable.

It felt weird.

Being in someone else's home, a home which he and his brother robbed on several different occasions, felt alien to him. Lifty felt wrong for being here like he was trespassing. Despite being allowed in by the timid homeowner, he couldn't shake the feeling of not belonging. The green-haired male was roused from his thoughts by the smell of something cooking in the other room. He inhaled the delicious scent deeply and his stomach rumbled audibly, reminding how long it had been since he last ate something that wasn't prepackaged or frozen.

He got up for his human-shaped indent in the couch and let his nose guide him into the kitchen where Flaky was busy with cooking up some eggs in a skillet. He didn't enter the small kitchen, choosing instead to lean against the doorframe and watch her cook. It didn't take long for Flaky to notice him, turning and giving him a small nervous smile.

"H-Hey. Food's almost done. You can sit down at the table." Flaky nodded her head towards the small dining room connected to the kitchen.

Lifty simply gave a dismissive grunt in reply and went to go sit down, the table's chair creaking slightly under the man's weight. Flaky came into the room moments later with two plates of eggs, setting one of them down in front of him. She sat down next to him and the two started to eat, the only sounds being the scrapping of their forks against the plates and the soft sound of chewing. A few more minutes of slightly awkward silence went by before Lifty let out a long sigh, making Flaky eye him with a curious glance.

"Yes, Lifty?"

"Huh? Oh. Well, I just wanted to say. . .thanks, I guess. For, ya know, not leaving me out in the rain and crap."

Flaky seemed surprised someone like Lifty was thanking her, but still gave him a cheery smile, "N-No problem and just know that you can stay here until. . .until. . ."

Both stopped and froze in an awkward pause, knowing what the real question was.

Until what?

Until Shifty became bored of being alone and decided to take him back? Like that would happen. Or how about until Flaky grew tired of housing him, the added stress of the thief becoming too much, and just kicked him out? But she wouldn't do that.

Right?

Lifty could feel the morning's egg sitting in his stomach like a rock and he wiped some nervous sweat from his brow, "Yea. That's. . .nice of you," having already said his daily dose of "thank you"s minutes ago. The redhead saw he had a look that slightly resembled panic, obviously thinking the same things, but quickly hid it behind an annoyed scowl.

"You gotta stop staring at me. It's weird."

Flaky blushed and rubbed in back of head sheepishly. "S-Sorry. But I just had an idea."

"Another one?" Lifty grimaced slightly, remembering her last "idea" as he absentmindedly rubbed his chest with one hand.

"I p-promise this one won't cause you any pain," the girl smiled, adding, "I'm going to help you not rely on your brother for help," she stood up, her red eyes shining with determination, "I'm gonna m-make you ready for the outside world! And I know the perfect person for the job."


	4. Lessons In Pain Tolerance

Lifty stared out the window of Flaky's car, a bored glaze clouding his eyes as they peered out at the surroundings pass by. The redhead was driving the two of them downtown to the local library, not even saying why they were going here in the first place. The library was a place Lifty never went to, after all, what was there to steal in a library expect some dusty old books? He drummed his fingers on the seat's armrest and let out a bored sigh. Flaky heard the exhale and glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye, one eyebrow raised.

"You okay, Lifty?"

Lifty didn't tear his eyes away from the window as he muttered sarcastically, "Oh, I'm just peachy! Being dragged to a place I don’t even wanna go to is the best way I'd think to spend my afternoon."

"I-I told you we were going to one of my friends who could help you. Teach you how to be a better person," Flaky frowned.

Lifty simply chose not to answer to that, seeing the library straight ahead and waited for the car to stop so he could get out of the small car. Flaky parked her car in the small parking lot next to the building and got out, bounding up the stone steps with surprising speed. She cupped her hands against the glass doors and peered inside for her friend, eyes lighting up happily when she noticed him walking towards her.

"Flippy!"

Flippy opened the library's door and pulled his friend into a hug, a warm smile on his face. "Hey, Flakes. How've you been?"

Flaky felt her pale cheeks turn a light shade of pink as she held the taller boy back, stuttering out, "Well, I'm g-good. But I need your help, my friend does actually."

Flippy let go of the red-haired girl and nodded, "Happy to help. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!"

"Great! I-"

"Jesus Christ! Why are there so many fuckin' steps?" The friends turned to the sound of Lifty's voice, seeing the man climbing up the top step, panting slightly as he stood, "Need to put in an escalator or something. . ."

The war vet's cheery smile vanished, being replaced by a look of suspicion at the thief's arrival. He put an arm up in front of Flaky, as though to protect her from him. He narrowed his emerald eyes at the other male before them.

"Flaky? Why's the thief here?"

Lifty knelt down, trying to get some air back in tired lungs, and watched as Flaky pushed his arm down and went over to stand by him. He saw her lift up her hand and gestured to him, "He's the friend I was talking about, Flips."

Lifty frowned when Flaky called him _a friend_. Since when were they friends? Since he arrived at her house last night? Since they shared a quiet, awkward breakfast together. If they really were friends, then this was news to him. . .

"I see. Well, it's so. . .great that you got yourself a new _friend_." Flippy gave the thief a wide fake smile, straining the word friend like it was the worst insult you could call somebody, "What's he need help with? Directions to the nearest jail cell? A good place to rob?"

Flaky didn't seem to get he was only slightly joking and tensed up, eyes going wide as she shook her head frantically, "Oh! No, no. N-Nothing like that. He just needs someone to teach him how to be a good person. I-I'm trying to get him ready for life without his brother."

Flippy nodded and waved his hand to the library, "C'mon in then. We can sit inside and maybe I can help him out. . ."

Flippy opened the door and walked back inside, Flaky following close by. Lifty was still at the top step, still trying to catch his breath. He looked up from the ground and noticed they were gone. He let out an annoyed groan and muttered to himself before going inside.

"Best waste of an afternoon ever. . ."

 

* * *

 

Lifty could feel both Flippy and Flaky's eyes on him as he stared straight ahead, unblinking, at a fly buzzing around a trash can. The three were at a table in the back of the library, hidden by shelves and shelves of books. Flaky sat between the two men and they all just waited for someone to say something, no one did though. Finally, after the fly went away, Lifty turned his gaze to the soldier and the timid girl before him.

"Jeez Flaky, you and your friends really got a staring problem."

Flippy didn't even try to hide his grudging annoyance as he sneered at him, "And you got a stealing problem, thief! And I'm going to cure you of it."

Lifty raised an eyebrow at him, resting his elbows on the table and placing his hand under his chin as he leaned against it, "Oh? Well soldier boy, you go right on ahead."

Flippy ignored the nickname Lifty gave him and instead stood up, walking around the table until he was facing the other two. He fished something out of his pocket, a thin brown leather wallet, and held it up for them to see.

"Okay! The first test for you. This should be a cakewalk, even for someone like you."

Flippy started to walk away from the table, his back turned away from them as he spoke to Lifty, "Let's say you happen to see me drop my wallet," Flippy let his wallet fall to the ground and continued to walk away as though it never happened. He turned around, staring at the other green-haired male.

"What do you do?"

Lifty rose from his chair, walking over and scooping up the wallet in a single swift movement. He handed the leather object back to the soldier, a small grin tugging at his lips.

"Simple, I find you and give it back. Here you go."

"Great," Flippy didn’t even blink or open the wallet as he eyed Lifty, "Now give me back the money."

Lifty's grin vanished almost instantly, a scowl forming on his lips as he dug out a twenty dollar bill from inside his glove, handing the crumpled bill back to the war veteran. Surely he hadn't thought Lifty would just give up some easy cash from a dropped wallet. What kind of thief would he be if he didn't even try?

"You're not fun, soldier boy."

"L-Lifty! Really? T-That was a test!" Flaky smiled, despite seeing how annoyed Flippy was getting. It seemed that Lifty was a really good pickpocket.

Lifty frowned at the girl, waving his hand to the wallet, "I knew that. But I mean, C'mon! It was just yelling at me to swipe it!"

Flippy let out a sharp breath, pinching his nose in frustration. Lifty watched the vet with a keen eye as Flippy walked back to the table and set his wallet down.

"Okay, we are going to try something different now. I'm gonna set my wallet here and I want you to not, I repeat, **_not_** touch it."

Lifty eyed him with a curious gaze, "And what happens if I do?"

"Well, I guess you'll have to find out."

Already suspicious of the soldier and his new test, he reached out and laid a single finger on the leather seconds before-

_Crack!_

Lifty hissed in pain and withdrew his hand, seeing it already start to turn red. His eyes narrowed as they landed on the object that caused him the sudden pain: a hardback book in the soldier's hand. He also noticed the ever-growing smug smile on Flippy's face, showing that he was fully aware that he knew the other male was going to touch it.

"You son of a bitch! You tricked me."

Flippy shook his head, "Nope. I told you not to touch it," he twirled the book in his hands, "And you didn't listen."

Lifty gave him a glare and decided that he was going to beat the soldier at his own game. He was going to annoy him until Flippy gave up or his hand broke. Flaky watched as Lifty made a move to poke the wallet again and stammered out in worry, "W-Wait, maybe this isn't a good idea! The pain won't t-teach him anything, Flippy."

A sharp _crack!_ was all the response she got as Lifty's hand grazed the leather again.

"I'm still touching it!"

_Crack!_

"Oooh! That one almost hurt!"

_Crack!_

"Man, you really wanna hurt me, don't ya?"

_Crack!_

 

* * *

 

Lifty prodded his sore hand with his other one, almost certain it was going to have a huge bruise or even a few broken fingers as he watched the passing buildings from Flaky's car window. He could still feel the pain through his hand going numb. But did he regret it? Nope. Was it hilarious to see Flippy getting more and more angry with each strike as the thief continued to test him? Hell yea it was.

Flaky drove them back, her eyes glued to the road, but couldn't take the silence anymore as she muttered to him, "So. . .what did you learn today, Lifty?"

"That it's funnier than hell to see a goodie-two-shoes nearly pop a blood vessel while trying to keep my hand off his wallet."

Flaky sighed, "Maybe we'll t-try something different next time. Maybe a class on manners. . ."


	5. The Nicest Mean Person

The next couple of days went by and Flaky couldn't see any changes in the thief from Flippy's actions from earlier, save for a bruise had started to form on Lifty's hand where the book repeatedly struck it. Now the two friends were sitting in Flaky's living room, Lifty sprawled out on the couch with his eyes half shut as they watched an old sitcom playing on the television.

Even though it seemed Lifty was completely zoned out, though in reality his mind was going in overdrive. He kept trying to figure out why exactly Flaky let him stay here for so long, seeing as she knew who he was and what he did. It just didn't make any sense to the kleptomaniac, the girl was too trusting. He could've been a rapist, or a murderer, on top of being a thief. And she just let him in her home, allowed herself to get comfortable around him. Maybe he needed to teach her that everyone in the world wasn't as good as her little soldier was.

And as if on cue to put his plan in action, Flaky got up from her spot and lightly shook him, thinking he was asleep.

"Lifty," she whispered, "Wake up. . ."

"Huh?" Lifty let out a yawn, pretending he had been fast asleep and blinked a few times as he sat up, "Whaddya want?"

"I-I'm gonna make something for dinner. Is there anything in p-particular you want?"

Lifty put a hand to his chin, pretending to think for a moment before shrugging. "I don't care. Whatever you want, I guess."

Flaky nodded and left, heading down the hall towards the kitchen. Lifty waited a few minutes before getting up himself and creeping towards the kitchen door, his footsteps making no noise on the floor as he snuck. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched Flaky, who had her back to him, reach for a box of pasta in a cupboard. He cleared his throat and she squeaked in surprise, dropping the pasta on the ground. She whirled around and saw him, she let out a shaky sigh.

"L-Lifty, you scared me!" The girl bent down to pick up the fallen box and set it back on the counter, "I didn't hear you come i-in. Did you-"

"Why did you help me?"

Flaky was taken aback by his abrupt interruption and stuttered out, "W-What?"

"You heard me," Lifty crossed his arms as he walked closer towards her, "Why'd you help me?"

"I couldn't just leave you out in the r-rain."

"You could've. I mean, have you met me?" Lifty frowned, not hearing the answer he was hoping for, "I'm not a good person. Hell, some might even call me mean. So why help out a mean person?"

Flaky shook her head, "Well, I am a good person. A-And I always help people out, no matter what they a-are. And I d-don't think you're mean."

"You don't think I'm mean?"

"No, I- Eep!"

In the middle of Flaky's sentence, Lifty closed the gap between them with surprising speed, outstretching his arms and placing his hands on either side of the girl on the countertop, effectively trapping Flaky between him and the counter. She looked at him, worry and slight fear in her crimson eyes.

"Lifty? W-What are you doing?"

Lifty chose to ignore her question and instead leaned in closer to her. Their faces were nearly touching, making Flaky turn beet red at the two's close proximity.

"You really shouldn't let strange people into your house, Flaky. You never know what they truly are," A grin formed on his lips as he moved his head to whisper in her ear, "Or what they'd do to you."

Flaky could feel fear growing in her chest as Lifty pressed his body against hers, squishing the female's small body against the counter. She ignored the pain in her lower back as she kept eye contact with him, knowing that he wouldn't do anything. She knew he was a good person. She just knew it.

"L-Lifty, this is hurting me. G-Get off me p-please."

"Just say I'm mean and I'll let you go."

Flaky shook her head, "You're j-just trying to s-scare me. I-It's not gonna work, L-Lifty"

The fact that the girl's stuttering getting worse as time went on said that it indeed was working.

Soon all traces of humor left the thief's face as he eyed the timid redhead before him, watching her squirm in place. He raised one of his hands to her face and pressed his thumb and forefinger into her soft cheek.

"You should know that not everyone's as sweet and innocent as your friendly soldier boy. Some of us are mean, cruel people who take what they want. People like me."

Then instead of whining or crying as he thought she would, Flaky started to laugh softly, a smile on her flushed face. Lifty frowned and let go of her face as he stared at her with a puzzled expression.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"I-I just thought it was really funny how you almost got me to b-believe you," smiled Flaky, who could tell that if Lifty really wanted to hurt her, he could've done it minutes ago. She saw that all this was just a game. A little show to get her to tell him he was mean, "I almost t-thought you were really gonna do something there for a-a second!"

Lifty's frown deepened as he let his arms fall uselessly to his side. This wasn't going at all how he planned. Instead of scaring her, he ended up making her laugh. Not at him, but certainly not with him either. He muttered about how he was just gonna go watch T.V. again, wanting to get away from the redhead's giggling. Scowling that his mission failed and in an over-all sour mood, he turned to leave the kitchen and was almost out of the doorway when he felt a body pressed against his back as pale arms wrapped around his stomach in a hug.

He turned his head, eyes wary, "What the hell. . ."

Flaky stared up at him, her face still tinted pink from their close contact and gave him a smile.

"If it makes you f-feel any better, Lifty. Then I'll just say that y-you are r-really mean!"

The girl let out a little giggle and held him tight, ignoring the annoyed face he made that told her that he sure didn't feel any better.


	6. Teaching A Good Girl Bad Tricks

Lifty's bad mood after being laughed at by his red-haired hostess only grew when a knock sounded at her door and he opened it to find Flippy standing on her front step. His mood improved a bit at seeing the smile on his face quickly disappear at seeing that the thief. and not his friend, had answered the door.

"Ah, hello there, thief."

"I got a name, ya know," Lifty scowled, "So there any reason why you're here? Or are you just here to give me a headache?"

Flippy shot him a glare, "I'm here because Flaky invited me over for dinner," Flippy wrinkled his nose at Lifty, as though the thief smelled rotten, "Although I didn't know we'd be having company."

Before their arguing could escalate into something a bit more heated, Flaky entered the scene and quickly ushered Lifty back into the kitchen and told Flippy to wait in the living room. As she shut the kitchen door behind her, she let out a sigh and looked at her houseguest with pleading eyes.

"Okay, Lifty. I really want you to t-try and be nice to him," Flaky pleaded, "I know y-you and him didn't exactly click the last time we all hung out, b-but I need you two to be friends. D-Don't you want to be known as the good twin? The one who is nice and c-caring and-"

"Ugh! Okay, okay! Enough with the goodie-goodie crap! I'll play nice with soldier boy."

Flaky smiled and clapped her hands happily, hugging the twin for the second time today, "I just k-know if tonight goes well, then g-getting everyone else to like y-you will be a snap!"

Lifty didn't think it be **_that_** easy to get everyone to like him as he was still known as a thieving crook to most of her friends but chose to not voice that opinion in favoring of keeping his friend happy.

Flaky let go of him and told him that she still needed to get the night's dinner ready and went back to the stove, where a pot of pasta was boiling on the heated top. After a few minutes of watching her cook, Lifty got bored and wondered briefly if he should just go back and sit with Flippy in the living room. He soon decided against it, seeing as it would probably end up in another fight between the two men and then he'd be disappointing Flaky.

Lifty frowned as that thought crossed his mind. Why did he care about disappointing the girl? She didn't mean anything to him, she was just a person who gave him free food and a roof over his head without even asking for anything in return. So why did he care? Maybe spending a few days around a person who actually seemed to genuinely care about him, despite his reputation, was being to soften the crook's cold heart. Maybe he **_was_** becoming a better person after all, even if it was only slightly. . .

". . .you could do that, Lifty? Lifty?"

The thief blinked, so lost in thought he hadn't realized Flaky had trying to talk to him, eyeing at him with a confused look. He shook his head, coughing slightly to seem like he just zoned out for a second.

"Huh? You say somethin'?"

"I asked if you c-could finish up making the food ready while I go grab F-Flippy."

"I'm not the best cook, Red. . ."

Flaky started to leave the kitchen, speaking to him before she left, "All you gotta do is pour the soup in bowls and add a l-little salt. Easy peasy, right?"

Flaky disappeared down the hallway and left Lifty alone. He stared at the soup with a frown. muttering to the empty air.

"Yea, easy peasy. . ."

Lifty nearly burnt himself trying to pour soup into the bowls but was able to get the meal ready with a lot of trouble. Taking only a pinch of salt he sprinkled some in the soup. His eyes fell on his bruised hand as he grabbed one of the bowls and his expression darkened, remembering the pain Flippy caused him. Sure, it was mostly his own fault for trying to annoy the war vet, but he was still mad at him.

Time for a little revenge, you think?

Grinning at an idea that popped into his head, Lifty lifted his uninjured hand to his face and stuck his thumb in his mouth. He pulled it back out, now covered in the man's saliva. He grabbed the bowls of soup, carrying two between his injured hand's thumb and forefinger. His other hand held what would be Flippy's meal, the spit covered thumb in one of the bowl's liquid. Ignoring the hot soup as it burned his thumb, he made his back to the dining room where Flippy and Flaky were already seated, talking idly as they waited for their food. Lifty gave a huge smile as he set down the tainted soup in front of the soldier.

"Here's your soup, _friend_."

Flippy eyed the man suspiciously, watching as Lifty removed his thumb from the broth and wiping the thumb on the soldier's shoulder. The thief's grin grew wider as he saw Flippy turn a bit green at realizing what he had done. Lifty set Flaky's bowl in front of her and then took his own seat next to her. The other two started to eat, but Flippy didn't even touch his. Flaky saw this and gave the green-haired man a small frown.

"Why aren't y-you eating, Flippy?"

Flippy tried to ignore Lifty's gleefully smug grin as he stammered out, "Well, I. . I-"

"C'mon, soldier boy. Eat up. It's good," Lifty grinned, lifting his spoon up and taking a bite.

Flippy really didn't wanna eat anything Lifty touched, who knew where the thief's hands had been? But he also saw how Flaky was staring at him with a saddened gaze, thinking he didn't like her food. In order to prove her wrong, the soldier lifted a spoonful of the soup to his lips. He shut his eyes and try not to gag as he felt the salty soup touch his tongue. He swallowed with a slight grimace but shot Flaky a smile.

"It's. . .delicious, Flaky. You really are a fantastic cook!"

Flaky beamed at the compliment, shyly muttering, "T-Thanks, Flips."

As soon as the dinner was finished, Flippy excused himself to go to the bathroom, obviously going to try and puke up the Lifty tainted soup he just consumed. Lifty smiled as he saw the soldier bolt to the bathroom, satisfied that he got what he deserved. Now he and Flaky were in back in the living room, the girl looking for a movie for them to watch while Lifty pretended to flip through a book on her coffee table, watching the redhead out of the corner of his eye. While he wasn't going to admit, Flaky was starting to grow on him. The girl was the first person to show him any kindness and he was somewhat grateful for it. But she sure was a bit too timid sometimes. Maybe she'd be more fun if she was a bit more exciting, more like him.

More. . .like. . .him. . .

Suddenly Lifty got an idea, another plan to get back at Flippy and a way to get Flaky to let loose a little. Two birds, one stone. A grin appearing on his face as he nudged Flaky, startling the girl slightly as she was too busy flipping through T.V. channels. She stared at him, a confused eyebrow raised at him.

"Yea, Lifty?"

"I just had an idea," Lifty's narrowed eyes were gleaming with mischievous excitement as he spoke, "Why don't we play a little game?"

"That sounds fun," Flaky smiled, "I like games? W-What kind?"

"A little game of pickpocket. Using our friendly soldier there."

"You want to steal f-from Flippy?" Flaky frowned, "B-But stealing is bad."

"Not if we return it right after," Lifty waved away her worries with a hand, grinning wide, "We'll give him back his crap after we've had our fun. I promise."

"Y-You promise?"

"Oh, my dear Flaky. Now would I lie to you?"

Flaky had been trying to so hard the past few days to teach him how to be good. Now it was his turn to teach her a few of his own tricks, to teach her how to be bad.

 

* * *

 

 

Flippy was back shortly after the two finished coming up with a plan. A few minutes passed with  no one saying a word, all the while Flaky could feel her stomach buzzing with nervousness. She couldn't believe she was about to steal. Especially from her best friend. But it was all game. A little after dinner fun, so it couldn't be that bad.

Flippy was so engrossed in the movie they were watching that he didn't notice Flaky stare at him for a second and then look to Lifty, who gave her a wink.

Time for action.

Flippy's gaze was torn away from the screen when he felt a hand on his leg, he turned to his head and saw Flaky had put her hand there. She was still watching the television though and didn't seem to notice what she was doing. Flippy's eye went wide as he felt her start to rub her fingers lightly over his thigh and he tried his best to ignore it, focusing his gaze back on the movie. Then he felt the girls' shaking hand go a little higher and slip into his pocket, making him stutter out.

"F-Flakes? What are you doing?"

The redhead gave no reply as she continued to stare at the screen, her fingers carefully roaming the inside of his jeans pocket. Just as Flippy was about to say something else, Flaky sudden pulled her hand out and turned to Lifty, waving something in his face with a smile.

"I got it! L-Lifty, I got it!"

"Nice, way to go," Lifty gave an approving smile, "But you know when you steal something you really aren't supposed to shout it out."

"You got what?" Flippy frowned, then seeing his wallet in the girl's pale hand as it all clicked. It was all a ploy to take his stuff? Why was Lifty teaching her to steal?

Flaky jumped a bit, remembering the soldier was right next to her. She turned pink and covered her mouth with one hand as she handed him back his wallet.

"S-Sorry, Flips," the girl mumbled, "But it was just a game. A little fun to be h-honest. . ."

Flaky jumped up from her spot and said she grab him a drink to make it up to him. As soon as she left, Flippy turned his gaze to the snickering thief nex tot him, his eyes full of murder. He couldn't believe all of this had just been a trick to mess with him, especially when the other man used Flaky against him.

"So you're teaching her how to be a crook? Like you?"

"I'm teaching her how to live a little," Lifty sneered, but then gave him a smug grin, "You gotta admit though, Red's a hell of a pickpocket. Using her cutesy nature, a bit of seducing here and there, I bet she'd get anything from you, soldi-"

Lifty was cut off by Flippy jabbing him in the throat, sending the thief hacking and coughing as he tried to get air back into his lungs. Flaky came back a moment too soon with a glass of water for Flippy. She handed it to him and then saw Lifty coughing, but not the cause of it, and spoke to him a worried tone.

"O-Oh! Lifty, are you okay? What happened?"

He was about to say her fuckwit of a friend hit him, but then saw Flippy's sharp gaze out of the corner of his eye that promised more painful things that a sore throat, so he decided to lie to keep his health.

"Choked," Lifty coughed a bit, "On my spit. I'm. . .fine."

"I'll grab you a drink too!" Flaky dashed off yet again, Lifty watching her go. He then saw Flippy's smug smile through his watery eyes.

He could do nothing but flip him the bird and whisper out a raspy "Fuck off" as Flippy just continued to smile at his well-deserved pain.

Stupid soldier. . .


	7. Back To What I'm Good At

"Here you go!"

Flaky had just returned with a can of soda for the gasping thief, who cracked it open and drank deeply to soothe his injured throat. Flippy was just beaming with smug happiness at seeing Lifty take a gasping breath after drinking, still coughing slightly. He caught the other man's eye and shot him a glare.

"You're. . .a fuckin' dick."

"And you're a thief with a bad mouth. Want me to fix that?" Flippy shot him his own glare before smiling evilly, "I'm sure I still got a cattle prod in my truck somewhere."

Flippy watched with glee as Lifty turned a bit pale at that suggestion, emerald eyes still burning with hatred as he shook his head.

"You stay the hell away from me."

Flippy snorted in contempt, "Gladly. Like I wanna be anywhere near you, thief," Flippy had another grin on his face, "Sorry, maybe I should be calling Flaky here that nickname since she's a better pickpocket than you ever were. Think you might be getting a bit rusty, eh?"

Flaky turned pink at the mention of her previous misdeeds and muttered she was just playing. Then before Lifty could open his mouth to argue, Flippy told Flaky he had to get going, since it was getting dark and he needed to get home. So they hugged, a bit too long if Lifty said so, and the war vet was gone, leaving the two alone again.

Flaky sat next to the twin and the two didn't say a word to each other after he left, just sat in silence and continued watching the remaining part of the movie they started a while ago. A bit of time had passed and it was starting to get late, Flaky could hardly stay awake as the movie continued, which was barely half over by now. Without even giving it a second thought, she moved a bit to lay her head on Lifty's lap, stretching her legs over the couch's cushions. A few minutes went by and then suddenly Lifty felt pressure around his thighs and saw Flaky had wrapped one of her arms under his legs like they were a pillow.

The thief started to have trouble staying awake soon after the movie ended, but didn't have the heart to wake up his hostess so he could lie down and sleep. So he shut the television off, throwing the room in darkness as he relaxed to try and fall asleep in his sitting position. It took a few tries, but Lifty finally got comfortable enough to shut his eyes for more than five seconds. The last thing he saw before he drifted off was the sleeping serene face of the redhead snoozing away on his lap.

 

* * *

 

Flaky woke up, slightly confused as she saw her bedroom was pitch black, save for a few rays of early morning sunlight seeping through the curtains of her window. That was weird, considering she usually left her lamp on the lowest setting for a little light so she could see if she needed to get up in the middle of the night. She also was confused at why her pillow was so much more warmer than usual, even after sleeping on it all night. She turned her head a bit and her eyes went wide, her cheeks heating up as she blushed harder than ever.

She was not in her room.

And she was not laying on her pillow.

She was sleeping on Lifty's lap in her living room as the thief softly snored away as he continued to sleep. She moved to get up, only for Lifty to wake up mid-snore and look down at her with sleepy eyes. He was quicker to realize what was going on, his own cheeks grew red as he too saw the situation they were.

"Morning, Red."

"M-Morning, Lifty."

Flaky got up and muttered she was going to go take a shower. Still red in the face, the girl shuffled down one of the hallways and into the bathroom, leaving Lifty still sitting on the couch. The green-haired male rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and then smacked his lips, feeling a sour taste in his mouth. He grimaced and got up from the couch, heading towards the kitchen to fix his morning breath. He walked to the fridge and pulled the door open, rummaging around until he found a jug of milk in the back. Looking around as though he was expecting to see Flaky next to him, but saw no one. So he shrugged to himself and twisted the cap off it the jug, bringing it to his lips as he drank.

He put the cap back on, setting the milk on the counter, and left the kitchen. Sitting back down in his spot on the couch, Lifty moved his head side to side, feeling a satisfying crack through his neck as he twisted his head around. He sighed as he stared at the magazines on Flaky's coffee table, thoughts of Flippy's remarks last night still fresh in his head.

_"Think you might be getting a bit rusty, eh?"_

_"Better pickpocket that you ever were. . ."_

Lifty shook his head as he tried to rid his mind of those offending thoughts. Why were the soldier's snide remarks to his thieving skills making him feel bad? Usually, when someone judged him, he was able to just brush it off with an insult back or a snicker, pleased that he was that much of bothering to someone that he needed to know about it. So why was this time different? The man's frown faded, replaced by a stern look as he knew what he had to do.

Time to show how  _ **rusty**_  he really is. . .

 

* * *

 

Freshly clean and clothed, Flaky wrapped a towel around her wet curls as she walked out of the bathroom. She made her way to head back the living room and turned the corner towards the room. Only to stop and walk backward back to a room she passed. Her room to be more specific. The door was open and it wasn't like that when she passed it earlier to go take her shower.

Something wasn't right. The redhead entered the room and noticed right away that something was missing in here. Well, a lot of things were missing actually. Where was her wallet? Or her car keys? Then it clicked. She frowned, eyes to the ground as she muttered to herself.

"L-Lifty. . .Lifty!"

The next time she said his name, she yelled it out hoping that he'd hear her and come. A few tedious seconds passed and then Lifty appeared in the doorway, a small grin on his face that made it clear he knew why she was yelling for him.

"You called?"

"I did," Flaky huffed, gesturing to her dresser and then turning to him, "Where's m-my stuff?"

"Hmm, that's a good question," Lifty's grin grew a little as he suppressed a chuckle, "I don't know. Maybe you just misplaced your junk?"

"I did n-not! You took them and hid it!"

Of course, he did, but he could lie and say he didn't. Unfortunately for his timid friend, when Lifty decided to practice and freshen up his stealing skills, the only person he could steal from was the only other person he's been around since he was kicked out: Flaky. So he took her crap and hid it, because he was bored and because he could.

"And so what if I did? What are you gonna do?"

"I. . .I," Flaky frowned, nibbling her lip as she tried to think of something to get him to cooperate, then smiled as she said confidently, "I'll stop making you dinner. A-And you'll have to fend for yourself."

Lifty gave her a look, one that said he knew she was full of crap.

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"Nope."

"Yes!"

"Nada."

"Lifty!"

"Flaky?"

Flaky let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Lifty, just, please. G-Give me my stuff. Or I'll call Flippy a-and make him make you."

Fearing if she was serious about sending soldier boy after him, Lifty frowned and shook his head, "Fine, fine! No need to make threats," then he pulled her wallet and keys from his back pocket and handed them to the redhead, who gratefully accepted the stolen items back with a small smile.

"Thanks."

Lifty gave her a small grin and tapped her forehead with his finger as he leaned in closer, "You don't thank someone for stealing your junk," his gaze landed on something he hadn't noticed her wearing before: a silver chain around her neck.

"Well, I-What a-are you doing?" Flaky's reply was cut off as Lifty wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her into an unsuspecting hug. He had his face in her neck as he muttered, "Shh, I just wanna hug."

Flaky hugged him back, a bit confused by the man's sudden affection. Then he let go abruptly and she saw something gleam in his hand as he pulled away. Realizing what it was, she frowned and pointed to it.

"Hey! Give me b-back my necklace!"

"Knock it off, Flaky. I just want to look at it," Lifty held it away from her outstretched arm as he examined it, only for his playful smile to vanish as he saw a dog tag on the necklace. A name engraved on it was as clear as day: Flippy.

"Lifty, give-"

"Why do you got a necklace with soldier boy's name on it?"

"W-What" Flaky frowned, "He gave it to me as a b-birthday present."

Lifty frowned, wondering why he was getting so worked up over a stupid gift the soldier gave Flaky. But for some reason, he felt a sting of jealousy at him for having his name around the redhead's neck. I mean, It wasn't like Flaky was his or anything. So why did he feel so angry about this?

"Why are you always thinking about him?"

Flaky blinked a few times before answering, feeling her cheeks heat up, "I don't a-always think about him."

Lifty shook his head, chuckling dryly, "But you do. You always do,"

Then before either could react to what he was doing, Lifty pulled her back into a hug and pressed his lips against her ear as he whispered, "I don't why you'd think about him, when you got me right here. Right now."

Lifty trailed his lips down and were just inches away from her own lips, about to close the gap between them when he came to his senses, wondering just what the hell he was doing. He pulled away, staring at the blushing girl with wide green eyes. He ran a hand through his hair to slick it back and let out a shaky breath before speaking, "I'm gonna. . .gonna go take a shower," handing the girl back her necklace and then leaving Flaky, red-faced and flustered. She blinked and then adjusted the towel on head, which had gotten messed up during the two's. . .actions. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt short of breath as Flaky tried to piece together what just happened. Lifty stole from her. Lifty gave her stuff back. Lifty hugged her. Lifty stole again. Lifty tried to kiss her.

Just. . .

What the fuck.


	8. Coffee With A Hint Of Gossip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, sure looks like Lifty and Flaky are getting along? More or less. . .
> 
> But now we better take a look at the person who caused all of this to happen. Let's check on the no-good brother himself: Shifty and see how he's doing without his little brother, shall we?

In a darkened alleyway between two small shops, a man was leaning against the brick wall of a store, partially hidden in the shadows. To a passerby, he seemed like he was just loitering there for no reason, but the man was there one reason and one reason only. A grin appeared on his lips as he watched the small coffee shop across the street.

To rob that store blind.

The man left the dark alleyway, hands in his coat pockets as he made his way across the street towards the shop. He pushed open the door and a happy chime rang out, signaling the employees inside they had a customer. His green eyes scanned the place, seeing maybe two customers and about three employees in here. Smiling to himself. he made his way up to the front.

"This'll be a piece of cake."

The employee, an older sandy-haired man with a pipe in his mouth, saw the man coming up to the front and was immediately suspicious of him. He narrowed his eyes as he spoke, not even trying to hide his annoyance and suspicions.

"Shifty? What do you want?"

Shifty gave the cashier a big smile as he addressed him, "Oh, Pop. C'mon. I'm just here to get something."

The older man frowned, brow furrowing as he shook his head, "Fine. But try and funny business and I'll call the cops."

"Yeah, yeah. . ."

"So. . What do you want anyway?"

Shifty wiped his hand out of his coat pocket, a small silver pistol in his hand. The smile never left his face as he whispered to the shocked cashier.

"Everything."

Shifty turned and shot every other employee before they knew what was happening, and then turned his gun on the customers who tried to flee at seeing the crazed man's gun, but were too slow for the thief's quick-draw.

"I want everything."

After the gunshots were silenced and the coffee shop grew quiet, Shifty turned his gaze back on the stunned Pop, who was frozen with fear. Why did Shifty kill everyone? Normally he let them go, being only interested in the money he could get. So what changed? Then he noticed the twin was alone and frowned in confusion as he looked around. Then before he could stop himself, he voiced that confusion towards the thief.

"Where's your brother at?"

Shifty's expression darkened at the mention of his other half, and he scoffed, "He failed me too many times. I don't need him."

"But. . .But he's your brother!" Pop knew that when the twin's plans went awry, they would end trying to save their own skins, but he never guessed that one would completely abandon the other.

Shifty gritted his teeth, annoyance flaring up as he brandished the gun at Pop, "Enough! Enough talking about that waste of space. Give me the money or I'll-"

Shifty stopped his shouting as his ears picked up a little beeping coming from behind the counter. Pop saw the young man's eyes turn to stare where his hand was hidden under the counter. Pop had his hand on a button under the counter, a button that would've sent an emergency call out to Splendid, who was bound to show up any second.

Shifty swore loudly in anger and before Pop could even react, he had a bullet between his eyes and the man's body crumpled to the floor. Shifty rushed to the other side of the counter and slammed his gun repeatedly on the cash register, trying to force the machine open. After a few more attempts the register's till flew open and Shifty started to stuff his pockets full of cash. He didn't have a lot of time, it was only a matter of time before-

The coffee shop's glass doors suddenly exploded, showering the store's floors with bits of glass as Splendid arrived. The blue-haired man saw the thief and went straight for him, Shifty continued to try and shove a few more bills in his pockets before he was face to face with the superhero. Seeing no way to escape the superhero, Shifty aimed his gun at Splendid and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets bounced harmlessly off the superhero's skin as he continued to advance on the thief. Fear and panic coursing through his veins, Shifty started to throw things at him to try and slow Splendid down. It didn't work as the man barely flinched and kept on coming. He aimed his gun and was about to fire once more when Splendid shot forward, his hand closing around the gun and crushing it effortlessly. The only problem for Shifty was that he also crushed his hand. The thief let out a scream of pain as he felt the bones of his hand being crushed along with his weapon.

"You motherfucker! I'll-Whoa!"

Shifty felt weightless as Splendid lifted him up and threw him across the room, sending the thief slamming into a table and chairs. In pain and sweating, Shifty got up and silently wished his brother was here, then maybe he'd have a better chance at dealing with the superhero. He looked up and saw that Splendid was flying straight at him, fist aimed for his face. Right before the man's fist connected, a single thought went through Shifty's head.

" Maybe I need Lifty back. . ."

Crack!

 

* * *

 

 

Lifty ran his hand through his hair as water trickled down from the showerhead. He shut his eyes as the warm water washed over him, making him feel a bit more relaxed despite what happened just minutes ago.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

He tried to kiss Flaky. He got jealous of Flippy, trapping the girl against the dresser and tried to kiss her. Why? Why was he acting like this all the sudden? He never cared about anyone besides himself, seeing everyone else as walking bags of money he could steal from whenever he pleased. So why was Flaky different? Why did he feel like he cared about her? It made no sense and he shook his head, telling himself that he was just using her for his own benefit. He didn't care about her, he didn't care about anyone.

Twisting a knob, the water became scalding hot and Lifty vigorously scrubbed his body. After he finished his shower, he saw everything below his neck was tinted red from the water and his hard washing. He shrugged to himself and wrapped a towel around his waist as he stepped out into the bathroom. He went over to the mirror, quickly dried his hair with another towel and draped it over his neck as he leaned against the sink and stared into the foggy mirror, a person he didn't recognize staring right back.

Seriously what the fuck was wrong with him?

 

* * *

 

Soon after Flaky finished coming to her senses, she called up her two best friends, Petunia and Giggles. She now just realized she hadn't spoken or seen to any of her friends besides Flippy since she started housing the green-haired thief almost a week ago. Now she figured now would be a good time to get some girl time, even if it was mostly Giggles gossiping or Petunia's overreactions to everything germ-related.

Just then the girl heard the rushing sound of water coming from down the hall. She was confused for a second, only to remember Lifty's words that he was heading to the bathroom to take a shower. Shrugging to herself, she picked up her phone and dialed Petunia's number while she made her way towards the living room, not before locking her bedroom to make sure Lifty didn’t get in there again.

Plopping down on her couch with the phone in hand, Flaky listened as it rang a few times before it clicked and a voice was heard over the other line.

"Hello?"

"Hey Petunia," Flaky smiled, "It's F-Flaky, I was wondering if you and Giggles wanna come over for a bit. For some g-girl time."

"Oh, of course! I'll text her and we'll be right over."

The phone clicked once more as her friend hung up and not even five minutes had passed before a knocking was heard at her door. Man, they were fast. Flaky went over to the front and pulled it open, smiling when she was met with the faces of her friends. Giggles rushed in, pulling the timid redhead into a hug, causing her to squeak in surprise. Petunia stepped inside too and shut the door behind her, eyeing her friends with an amused smile.

"Giggles, let the poor girl go before you suffocate her."

Giggles realized she might have been hugging her a bit too hard and unlatched her arms from the other girl, giving a sheepish smile, "Sorry, Flakes. It's just been a bit since we've all got together, is all."

Flaky smiled, rubbing the back of the head as she stuttered out, "O-Oh, no problem. I missed you g-guys too."

Both Petunia and Giggles sat down on her couch while she went to the kitchen to grab something for the three of them to drink. She came back a few seconds later with a couple bottles of iced coffee, handing one each to her friends before sitting down beside them. The three started to make small talk for a bit, mostly about what's been going on in their lives.

"And then I told Cuddles that I only spent $100, but he still got mad at me! Giggles said, throwing her hands in the arm as though her blond boyfriend was being the unreasonable one, "Can you believe it?"

Petunia replied, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder as she tried to give a sympatric smile, "But surely he had a good reason to be mad? I mean you did spend $100 of his money on a makeup kit you barely use now."

Giggles huffed, not seeing the point, "But still! I thought I wanted it at the time!"

After listening to Giggles complain for a few more minutes, Flaky decided to contribute with her own stories, staying how she was helping a friend and how she and the friend even had dinner with Flippy.

She left out in the part where the friend in question was Lifty,  knowing the man's reputation and how her friends would react if they knew who he really was. But they would have to find out sooner, they would. Maybe some time down the road, but not right now.

Giggles got up after a while, "Be right back, I'm gonna use the bathroom."

Giggles left, disappearing down the hallway. A few silent seconds passed before she rushed back in the room, eyes wide. Seeing their friend's sudden return and the look on her face, both Flaky and Petunia figured something was wrong.

"W-What is-," Flaky stopped as her heart dropped at figuring out just why her friend came back so suddenly. She had seen Lifty, she must've of. And the pinkette's next words confirmed that fact as she spoke to Flaky.

"Flaky, why is Shifty or Lifty or whoever in your bathroom?" Giggles turned back as though she thought the thief would be right behind her before turning back and whispered, " And wearing nothing but a towel."

Flaky blushed as images of a barely clothed Lifty entered her mind before she subdued them. "It's Lifty. He's the f-friend I mentioned, the one who I'm helping o-out."

"Girl, are you crazy?!" Giggles cried out, putting her arms on the smaller girl's shoulders

Petunia frowned and shook her head, as though she was disappointed in her friend's actions, "Don't you know he's a no good crook?"

The "no good crook" in question was hiding in the hallway, having put pants on after being barged in on by Giggles while he brushed his teeth. Lifty leaned against the wall as he listened to Giggles and Petunia insult him in front of his friend, burning anger growing with every word that spewed out of their mouths.

There it was again,

That angry hurt he felt when Flippy called him rusty, coming back as he heard the two girl's comments. Why was he letting people's words get to him? Why was he so different now that he was weeks ago? He shook his head, telling himself it was just Flaky's influence. He wasn't becoming soft. He was still a criminal, a nasty and cruel man who cared about no one.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of Flaky's voice, replying to what her friends had said.

"He isn't like his b-brother. He's good. . ."

Giggles annoying voice chirped out again, "How can you be so sure? Maybe this all just a ploy by those twins to have one of them get close to you so they can steal your stuff easier."

That statement stopped Flaky right there as she briefly thought on what she said. Was this really all a plan to rob her? Lifty wouldn't do that, right? Maybe he might. . .

No.

She knew Lifty was a good person, she knew he'd never hurt her or lie to her. Flaky shook her head and stared at her friends surprising the girls with a stern look, "No, no he wouldn't do that. He'd never."

Giggles was about to shout out how idiotic Flaky was being before she caught Petunia's gaze that told her not to, so she just sighed, "Okay, fine. He wouldn't do that. But you are gonna kick him out once your done helping him, right?"

That question had been on both Lifty and Flaky's mind for a while. When would the girl send him packing once he proved he was capable of fending for himself? Would she do that if he ended up becoming too much of a burden to take care of or when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to change?

Lifty's could feel his heartbeat slow and quiet as he waited for Flaky to answer, only growing more and more worried when she didn't answer like she was having a hard time thinking about her choice. Then much to his annoyance, before the redhead could answer, she was cut off by Petunia's butting in with her own voice.

"Of course, she is! No way she's gonna let that crook just loaf around her house for the rest of his life."

No one said anything else about Lifty after that, much to his relief and worry since Flaky didn't deny what the blue-haired girl had said. The girls went back to making boring girl talk so Lifty went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. He passed the doorway to the living room, catching Petunia's eye as he passed. He barely gave her a glance as she eyed him suspiciously, an annoyed frown written on her face, and continued down towards the kitchen. He rummaged through the cupboards, looking for something to snack on when he heard the sound of Flaky's voice once more.

"You're leaving a-already?"

"Yea, Cuddles said he'd take me to the mall if Petunia and Handy came too! So we gotta get going!"

Flaky watched as her friends gathered up their things and escorted them to the front door. She shut the door behind her friends, letting out a weary sigh. She loved her friends as much as they loved her, but sometimes the other girls could really be a handful. She turned around and bumped right into a warm bare chest, turning red as she looked up at Lifty's grinning face.

"O-Oh. Hey, Lifty. You're out of the s-shower."

Lifty nodded and placed a hand above her head against the door as he steadied himself, "Yup, and I couldn't help hearing your guests talking bad about little old me," Lifty's smile vanished as his lips turned downward in a scowl she knew so well, "While you sat there and did nothing."

"B-But I did defend you," Flaky was redder than usual, what with Lifty being so close without a shirt, "I know you'd never h-hurt or lie or do anything w-wrong to me."

"There you go again! Assuming I'm a good person when you don't know even really know me. I'm a bad man, a criminal. Do you honestly think there's good in me?"

Flaky didn't even hesitate as she nodded firmly, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I know everyone has some sort of good in them, no matter how they were brought up."

Lifty snorted and back away a bit as he crossed his arms over his chest, "And another thing I noticed, you never answered the pink airhead's question. Are you gonna kick me out once you've gotten bored of me? Once I've become too much of a hassle to deal with?"

Lifty waited, trying to ignore the fear coursing through his veins and the sound of his heart pounding in his ribs as Flaky took a second to answer, biting her lip before she muttered out, "No. I'd never kick you out.

Lifty's heart soared at hearing her say that. She wasn't going to kick him to the curb! She wasn't gonna abandon him like his no-good brother! He picked the girl up off her feet and twirled her around while he laughed in happiness. He was so happy she said that and before he could stop himself, he planted his lips on hers as he kissed the redhead. He snapped back to reality and quickly put her back down, cheeks red as he stuttered out.

"S-Sorry about that, I was just happy tha-Mmph!"

Lifty's apology was cut off by Flaky grabbed his face and kissing him back, harder than he did to her. She pulled away after a second, her own face red as she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I was just happy too."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer chapter than usual. So hey, let me know if you like the long chapters or if I should make them a bit shorter in the future. Don't wanna bore people with super long chapters!


	9. In This Together

It seemed no matter how close Lifty got to someone, Flaky soon found out that he'd always find a way to distance himself from that person. In the days following their kiss, Flaky noticed a change in Lifty's demeanor to her. Whenever she'd come home from the store or work and sit next to him on the couch, he wouldn't even give her a passing glance before he'd get up, muttering about how he needed to use the restroom or another excuse to get away the redhead. It started to worry Flaky as she was growing close to the thieving man as he was to her. But now it seemed like he wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

After the third time it happened, Flaky decided to try and get some answer from her kleptomaniac friend. She returned home shortly after going to the supermarket and sat down next to the thief, waiting for him to move. It only took a minute before Lifty started to rise from the red sofa, halfway through mumbling another one of his excuses. He stopped, however, when he felt the girl's hand on his shoulder, surprising him as he looked at her.

"Red, let me go. I gotta use the bathroom."

"Lifty, you always leave whenever I s-sit down," Flaky shook her head, staring up at him as her big red eyes started to fill with tears, "I just w-wanna know what I d-did wrong."

Lifty sighed and slumped back into the sofa seat, running a hand over his face before answering, "You didn't do nothin' wrong. I just don't want someone like you getting close to someone like me."

"Why?"

Lifty shrugged, "Have you met me? I'm a thief. A criminal. You're too nice to be around a guy like me."

"I don't care. I still c-care about you."

Lifty sighed again, seeing there was no way he was going get the girl to leave this alone and shook his head, "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn ya."

The girl ignored his warning and instead stood up from her spot, grabbing the thief's hand as she pulled him to his feet. She led him to the front door and he stopped her there, pulling his hand from her grasp as he stared at her curiously.

"Flaky, where are you taking me?"

"I gotta go to the supermarket, and I figured y-you could come with me"

Lifty frowned, even more confused, "But didn't you just come home from the store earlier?"

Flaky nodded, "Yup, but you haven't left my house since we w-went down to the library. So I figured it'd be good for you to g-get some fresh air. Plus I forgot to grab a f-few things."

So without even listening to Lifty's protests of him saying that he'd rather just stay inside and watch television, the both of them piled into Flaky's red car and she started the drive into town.  Lifty sighed and just stared out the window, thinking to himself this might not be so bad. After all, it was true that Lifty hadn't left the girl's house and it was being to bore him with seeing the same rooms every day and every night.

But if Lifty knew who he'd see in the market, he never would've left the couch.

 

* * *

 

Lifty trudged along, a bored expression on his face as he followed Flaky from behind as the girl pushed a cart down the aisle. He watched as her crimson eyes darted from the shelves to the paper list in her hand, muttering quietly to herself.

"No, not t-that one. Maybe. . .no. . ."

They passed another aisle and it seemed to catch the girl's attention as she tore her eyes away from the list in her hand as she stared down the aisle, searching for whatever it was she needed. She frowned and turned to Lifty, who was busy picking at a string on his coat only to the feel the redhead's eyes on him as he looked back at her.

"Lifty, t-there's something I need from down that aisle. But I c-can't reach it," Flaky pouted at her shortness, but continued, "C-Could you grab the flour on that top shelf while I go grab some o-other stuff. Please?"

Now even though Lifty had changed slightly after being around Flaky, becoming a bit of a caring person and all that junk. He still made sure she and everyone knew he never did anything, no matter how small, unless he got something in return. So it came as no surprise when the green-haired kleptomaniac simply replied with, "Hmm. . .well what do I get out of helping?"

Flaky already knew he was going to ask that, so she dug around in her wallet and produced a few crisp dollar bills. Holding one out to the man, she mentioned with a small smile that he'd get more if he helped her. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to get some free cash, the thief swiped the bill from her hand and told her he'd be back with what she needed. Lifty went down the aisle and Flaky left down another, leaving Lifty alone as his eyes scanned for the flour she needed. The only problem was she didn't tell him what kind she needed or which top shelf she meant. He frowned to himself and was about to go back to Flaky and ask which flour she needed when he was suddenly struck in the back of the head by someone's hand.

Whirling around in anger he started to shout at the person, "What the hell was that for?! Ya friggin' idio-"

Lifty choked halfway through his rant, the heated words now lost in his throat as he stared with wide eyes at the person before him.

"Now, is that any way to greet your brother?"

Lifty backed away from Shifty's sadistic smile, only to regret it as he saw, the older twin's smile to grow with satisfaction, obviously pleased with how bothered his little brother was by his presence.

"Shifty," Lifty steeled his nerves as he glared, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, you know a little of this, a little of that," Shifty started to look at the shelves as he grinned, "I was actually in the neighborhood and decided to do a little shopping. Then I saw you and wanted to catch up with my little brother."

"Like hell you did," Lifty's glare never left as he examined his brother, just now noticing a nasty purple and brown bruise on the twin's face, "And what the hell happened to your face? You look even uglier than usual."

That wiped the smug smile off of the brother's face as Shifty's hand went up to his face and softly brushed against a still healing bruise that covered his left cheek.

"An accident, Splendid caught me after I tried robbing a coffee shop," Shifty growled, "Beat the crap outta me before just leaving. Said I learned my lesson. Pfft, as if."

"Good, glad you got what you deserved."

Now Shifty was starting to get angry as he clenched his coat with a closed fist, "Seems you've grown up a bit since what, a week and a half? Two weeks? Thought you'd still be a little whining bitch. But maybe I was wrong, huh?"

Lifty didn't have a comeback or insult to fire back so Shifty just continued, hands on the shelf in front of him as though he was going to send it toppling over.

"But I'm not. You're still a wuss, a coward. But. . ." Shifty raised his hands and shook his head, "Enough exchanging petty insults. That's not why I'm here."

Lifty wondered what was taking Flaky so long and briefly wondered if he should just shove his brother down and make a run for it. But considering Shifty was always the faster of the two, Lifty knew that he'd be back on his feet and on him before he could even take two steps. So he crossed his arms and didn't try to hide his scowl as he spoke.

"So why are you here then?"

"I'm just curious about how you been," Shifty narrowed his eyes as his smile came back, "And curious of whose been helping you out."

"You're an asshole," Lifty glared, "I can take care of my fuckin' self."

Shifty let out a chuckle, "As if! I just know that someone's been helping you. You'd never last this long without me. And this must a hell of a friend, huh? I mean, who would let someone like you into their home without questioning a single thing."

Lifty didn't answer and instead started to move down the aisle, intent on getting away from his brother. He was stopped by Shifty darting in front of him, outstretched arm blocking the aisle exit.

"Oh, no! We ain't done talkin' yet, little brother."

"Yes. We are. Now move your damn arm before I break it."

"Oho! Someone's got their panties in a bunch! I'll let you go if you just tell me who has been letting you stay with 'em."

Before Lifty could either attack or argue with his sibling, the worst thing happened as he heard a soft voice call out from a couple of aisles down. It was a voice both Lifty and Shifty knew well, and one that Lifty started to like and feel comfortable around. But now it sounded so horrible at that moment as Lifty's blood ran cold.

"Lifty? W-Where are you? Flaky called out, her voice fading as she went down a different aisle away from the twins, "Did you find the f-flour?"

Her voice grew fainter and fainter until it was quiet as she went farther away from them. Lifty's mouth was open slightly as his eyes went wide. Then Shifty's grin grew bigger than he'd ever seen as the other man slowly turned to stare at him.

"You smart motherfucker! Flaky?" Shifty gave his brother a pat on the back as he grinned, "That's who has been letting you loaf around all this time? That's fuckin' genius, gaining her trust like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know. Gaining the redhead's trust so you can rob her in the middle of the night and make off with her stuff." Shifty threw his arm over his twin's shoulder as he smiled, "I think you're getting to be more like every day, bro."

"That's not why I'm staying with her. She's helping me get ready for life." Lifty ripped the man's arm off of his shoulder as he scowled, "Without you. She's my friend. "

"That's where you wrong. She'll never think of you as a real friend. And you know why? Because you are a criminal. Like me. A bad guy. Like me. You know it. I know it. She knows it."

Lifty frowned, feeling the sting of his brother's cruel words as he shook his head, "You don't know that. Y-You're wrong."

"Listen to what I'm saying. What your brother is saying. Would I ever lie to you, Lifty?"

Before Lifty answer, he was pulled close and he saw how truly messed his brother really was. Besides the bruise covering his cheek, Shifty also looked like he hadn't slept in days. Tired bloodshot eyes stared through his brother as a broken bandage hand gripped his coat. The twin's smile was gone, replaced by a bitter frown as he whispered out, voice dripping with soft anger.

"Look at what you did. You motherfucker, you did this."

Lifty pulled away from his brother's grip, confusion was written on his face as he backed away, "I didn't do that."

"You did." Shifty hissed, eyes staring at his shoes, "You left me, and because of that, I got hurt. This is your fault."

Shifty didn't see his brother's confusion turn to anger as he kept talking.

"But I can forgive you. Just come home. I got our van parked out back. If we leave right now, Flaky wouldn't even know you-"

"No."

Caught off guard by his brother's blunt and quick response, he took a step back. "What?"

"You fuckin' heard me," Lifty took his chance, stepping forward and jabbed a finger into his brother's chest, "I said no, brother. You kicked me out, said I wasn't your brother anymore. And now when you realize you can't do shit by yourself, you suddenly want me to come home. Well, I say no. Fuck you."

Lifty started to walk away from the stunned Shifty, who just stood there for a second with his mouth open in shock. He quickly recovered and his face was a mask of anger as he shouted out to his retreating brother., who stopped to stare at his enraged twin's ranting.

"Well, fuck you too! Fuck you, fuck you. Fuck! You! Just you fuckin' wait. Her friends won't accept you! They'll just see an outcast, a crook!" Shifty started to walk away as well, anger boiling his blood as he shouted out one more time, "You know we're in this together so you can't just walk away! Sooner or later you'll be back! We both know it."

That last part barely made to his ears as Lifty continued walking away, but he could hear the furious and almost heartbroken betrayal behind his brother's words. Leaving his brother behind, Lifty felt a weight lift from his shoulders, as though the weight of Shifty's burden was finally gone. But now it was replaced by a sense of dread. He didn't hear a single taunt or feel a single hint of humor from his brother's final words, just hurting anger. He knew how underhanded and malicious his brother could be when he wanted revenge, so he knew Shifty would be plotting how to get back at him as soon as the two departed.

Lifty felt like his world was had just crashed down around him, yet at the same time, he also felt like a new and better world was being rebuilt around the wreckage. He didn't need his brother. Turning to look where Shifty just was, he nodded to himself before continuing to walk.

He didn't need his brother. And that was okay.


	10. A Helpful And Not-So Helpful Hand

Lifty wandered the aisles for a few minutes, trying to pinpoint where Flaky had gone, but after going down several aisles he saw no sign of the redhead and started to call out her name in hopes she would hear him.

"Flaky! Where the hell are ya? Flaky!"

Flaky, however, didn't hear the thief's calls and instead caught the unwanted attention of a green and yellow-haired boy who giggled and twitched as he made his way over to the shouting man. Lifty frowned in annoyance as he saw the giggling man approach him.

"Nutty, get the hell away from me."

Nutty ignored his request and instead continued to stare at the taller boy, "Oh, oh! But I just heard you yelling! I don't really like yelling, it hurts my ears. Are you yelling cause you're sad? Do you have any candy? I really like candy, it's so tasty and-Wait what was I saying before?"

Lifty let out a slow exhale and glared at the boy, "What the fuck do you want, sugar freak? Is the store outta candy? Is the fuckin' town on fire? If your answer to either of those choices is no, I'm going to ram your face into a shelf."

"That's not nice. You're mean."

"And you're a sugar-addicted moron."

"That's rude!" Nutty whined, increasing in volume.

"Tough shit!" Lifty snapped back.

It was lucky for Lifty that the two's arguing got louder and louder as they continued because Flaky heard the commotion from the other aisle over and came over to see what all the noise was about. She saw Nutty and immediately wondered how close Lifty was to exploding on the boy, seeing as the thief was red in the face as the two shouted. She pushed her cart over to them and went over to Lifty's side. He noticed her, ceasing his yelling and looking absolutely relieved to see the girl as he sighed.

"Thank God, you're here. Get this fuckin' parasite away from me."

Flaky turned her gaze at Nutty, who stopped his own yelling as she arrived. He gave her a big smile and pulled her into a rib-crushing hug, causing the girl to yelp in surprise as he wrapped his arms around his friend. He let her go as he started to speak way too fast for such a small person.

"Flaky! I missed you! We haven't talked in forever! How are you? Why are you here? Are you gonna make this meanie leave me alone? Do you have any candy?"

Flaky took a moment to soak in the tidal wave of words that spewed from the sugar addict's mouth before stuttering out, "W-Well, I heard you guys yelling and thought I'd better s-see what's going on."

Nutty nodded, but it was obvious he didn't hear a word she said as he noticed Lumpy pushing a cart of something shiny and colorful down in one of the other aisles, running past the other two, calling out to them, "I gotta go! Bye Flaky! Bye meanie!", and then he was gone, laughing as he sped away.

Finally rid of the annoying sugar addict, Flaky turned and noticed that Lifty was empty-handed. Frowning she gestured towards his hands, "W-Where's the flour?"

Lifty froze as he realized he totally forgot about it after his whole confrontation with his brother left him sorta out of it, only things crossing his mind was when and where would Shifty strike his vengeance. He knew he couldn't let Flaky know about Shifty and what he now knew, so he just shook his head as he plastered a fake grin on his face.

"Ah, crap! Sorry, but I didn't know which one you wanted. So I tried to find you so you could help me."

"Oh, well that's fine. I d-don't really need it," Flaky shrugged, "Let's go check out, cause I g-got everything else I really needed."

The two friends made their way up to the front of the store where the checkout was. They stood in line behind a couple people and waited until it was their turn. Lifty heard the chime that rang out every time the register opened, signifying a sale. He saw money being exchanged and he licked his lips hungrily, wondering how much money he could take from the register if he was all alone. He could take hundreds of dollars, maybe even thousands worth. It would be his. No sharing with his brother. All that sweet cash would be his, all of it would-

"Lifty? Did you h-hear me?"

"Huh?" Lifty was brought back from his thieving thoughts by Flaky speaking to him, staring at him with a puzzled face. He stared back at her as he cleared his throat before answering, "Sorry, did you say something?"

"I said that it's our turn. M-Move up."

Lifty turned and saw there was no one else in line now and the cashier was waving him over. Quickly getting through checkout, Lifty watched as Flaky struggled with carrying some of her groceries, so without even saying a word he grabbed a few from her hands and carried them to her car. She followed and put her bags away, smiling at the thief before he got into the car. He noticed her smile and waved his hand at her.

"Don't even mention it."

"But you know I'm g-going to," Flaky giggled, "Thanks for helping me, Lifty."

Lifty pretended to be annoyed as he mumbled, "Whatever," before he went to the backseat and laid down across the seats. As Flaky started to drive them back home, Lifty kept trying to ignore the weird feeling he got when the girl thanked him. Someone actually thanked him. He actually did something remotely good for once in his life and he felt happy about it

Yup, he sure wasn't becoming a good person. . .

 

* * *

 

It was dark and started to rain as Lifty and Flaky watched television in her living room, the room was completely dark except for the glow of the screen. Lifty noticed the girl fidgeting a bit and tried to ignore it, only for her to let out a sigh as she turned to him.

"Lifty."

Lifty didn't take his gaze off of the screen as he muttered out, "Eh? What?"

"I think you need to leave."

What?!

That made Lifty tear his green eyes away from the T.V. as he stared at the redhead with shock and surprise on his face as he choked out, "W-What? Whaddya mean I need to leave?!"

Flaky didn't answer at first, instead just standing up and dragging Lifty to his feet once again. He was too stunned to even fight back as he was led to the front door. Flaky didn't even appear sad as she stared at him through cold red eyes.

"You heard me, Lifty," Flaky glared, and Lifty stepped back, slightly nervous at his friend's sudden anger, "I don't want a criminal around me anymore. Get out."

"B-But I don't understand! What did I do wrong!" Lifty cried out, "Tell me what I did wrong, Flaky. Please."

Flaky crossed her arms as her glare intensified, "What you did wrong was being you. You aren't gonna change, so why should I continue to waste my time?"

Then before Lifty could even reply, she opened the door and Lifty saw his brother standing in the doorway. He back away onto the front porch, watching in horror as the two turned to stare at him. They suddenly grinned wider than it should've been humanly possible as they whispered softly in unison.

"Time to come home, Lifty."

Lifty felt hands on his back and he was suddenly jerked away from Flaky's house and into the air. The invisible hands threw him across the town and he landed in the front yard of his old house, the dead grass providing little cushioning as he cratered into the ground. He rose shakily to his feet and saw Shifty standing in front of the door to the twin's rundown house. The inside of the house was pitch dark and Lifty could've sworn he saw glowing red eyes glared at him from the darkness. He tried to run, only for those vile hands to grasp at his coat to drag him towards the house. Lifty screamed in fear and protest, hands clawing to find something to anchor himself to the ground, but he only found dead grass and dried crumbly dirt as the hands pulled him closer and closer to the darkness.

"No! No! Please, God!" Lifty pleaded as tears came to his eyes and he started to sob, "I don't wanna go! I don’t' wanna go!"

But God couldn't help him as he was dragged into the darkness. He looked up and saw Shifty appear in the doorway, an evil and sadistic smile on his face as he whispered.

"Welcome home, brother."

Shifty slammed the door and that was enough for Lifty to shoot up, a screaming fit. But he stopped his yelling as he noticed he was still laying on Flaky's red sofa. He calmed down a bit, his heart still going a million miles an hour as he realized it all just a horrible nightmare. Sweating and shaking, he looked around and saw he was still in Flaky's living room, still on her comfy couch. He was okay. He was okay. Then he heard the sound of quiet but fast footsteps down a hall and then saw Flaky in the doorway, red eyes tired yet full of worry as she went over to the thief. She stood beside the couch as she stared at the shaky Lifty.

"Lifty?! A-Are you okay? I heard s-screaming."

Lifty shook his head, but his voice betrayed him as he spoke, "N-Nothing's wrong. Just a bad dream, is all."

Flaky could tell right away that her friend was more than rattled, so she laid him back down as she laid next to him. She snuggled up against him and spoke in a soft voice, "Well, I'll just s-sleep here so you don't have a-any more bad dreams," she looked up at him and gave him a small smile, "Okay?" 

Lifty wanted to protest, saying he didn't need a mommy to make sure he didn't have any more nightmares but knew it was pointless as the girl was firm in staying right there for the night so he just sighed and muttered tiredly, "Whatever, but if you start snoring loud, I'm gonna kick you off the couch."

Flaky giggled as she buried her head into his chest, falling asleep within minutes. Lifty, however, took considerably more time to drift off. The whole horrid nightmare before just felt too real, besides the part with those weird invisible hands throwing him around like a ragdoll, and it seemed that even though he didn't need his brother.

His brother was going to let him get away that easy.


	11. Home Is Where The Party Is

Flaky woke up to find Lifty had wrapped his arm around the girl's body as he laid on his back, snoring away softly. She smiled up at the man's sleeping face, noticing how the annoyed scowl or bored expression he normally wore had vanished as he relaxed. The sound of someone knocking on her front door startled her slightly, making her jolt in surprise. First making sure her sudden movement hadn't awoken the sleeping thief, Flaky carefully, but reluctantly pulled herself free from Lifty's arm.

She made her way to the front door and pulled it open, smiling again when she saw Giggles on her porch. The pink haired girl gave her a wide smile and stepped inside, closing the door behind her as she started to talk to her friend.

"Flaky! I got some great news," Giggles smile grew as she grasped the smaller girl by her shoulders, "I have the perfect idea to help you with your little Lifty problem!"

"Huh? W-What?" Flaky frowned, obviously not pleased at hearing Lifty being called a problem, "What are you talking a-about, Giggles?

"I'm talking about a party!" Giggles waved her hands in the gesture of a rainbow over her head, "To show everyone the new and improved good Lifty!"

"But that last time you talked a-about Lifty, you sounded like you wanted nothing to do with him. And now you w-wanna throw him a party? What changed?

The town's annual Happy Tree Festival got canceled. That's what changed.

"Not enough money for everything" is what Lumpy and a few others tried to explain to the pinkette, but she didn't listen. She needed this party to happen. How else were people gonna know she was the best at party planning?

But now with her new plan of throwing a party for Lifty, Giggles could kill two birds with one stone. Have an amazing party where Flaky has a chance to show everyone how much of a changed person Lifty has become and give her a chance to have the party of her dreams come true.

It was a win-win for her and for Lifty. Simple.

Snapping back from her thoughts, Giggles answered the redhead's question with a shrug, "I got my reasons, Flakes. All that matters is that it'll be great for Lifty, isn't that what you want?"

Flaky did want that, more than anything. But there was one flaw with her pink-haired friend's little plan, "But what if L-Lifty hates the idea? Or tells you that h-he don't want a party?"

Then I'll fucking gouge his eyes out and do it anyway!

Giggles smiled sweetly as that not-so-sweet thought flashed through her mind and almost left her mouth, "Who doesn't want a party? I mean, it’ll be so amazing! Just wait and see."

Flaky was still uncertain of this whole plan of hers, but decided to give her friend the benefit of doubt and just nodded, "O-Okay, well when's the party gonna h-happen? And where?"

"I'm thinking sometime next week, either Friday or Saturday. And as for where we'd have it, well. . ." Giggles now gave the redhead a sheepish grin, "I was thinking we could host it here."

"Here? You mean at host your party in m-my house?"

Flaky looked around, worry in her eyes as she scanned around her home. The house was barely big enough for her and Lifty. There was no way it could fit her, Lifty, and all of her friends within the walls of the cozy and compact house. Noticing her friend's worry and knowing all about the house's size problem, Giggles quickly tried to put her friend's fear to rest.

"Hey, don't worry! I was actually thinking we could use the backyard. It's certainly big enough, right?"

"I t-think so," Flaky nodded, fear fading, "I guess it's h-happening then."

"Great!" Giggles pulled the girl into a hug, only this time not scaring her as she squeezed her, "You leave everything to me! Soon everyone'll see how much he's changed and then everything will be good!"

Giggles then left and Flaky shut the door behind her as she made her way back to the living room. She found Lifty still sleeping away on the couch and poked him in the cheek to wake up the snoozing thief. He woke up to her touch, frown on his lips before he even opened his eyes. He opened one eye halfway and grumbled at the girl who interrupted his sleep.

"Whaddya want? Trying to sleep here."

"Sorry, but G-Giggles was just over and-"

"What'd she want?"

"Well, she had an i-idea to throw you a party."

That caught the thief's interest as he opened his eyes fully, throwing the blanket off of him and sitting up to stare at Flaky with a raised eyebrow and a frown.

"Did I hear you correctly? I coulda swore you just said that the pink airhead is throwing me a freakin' party."

Flaky nodded, "I did say that. She wants me t-to have a chance to show how much you've changed," Flaky smiled happily, "To show how good you are."

Lifty's frown only deepened as he rubbed the of his head and scoffed, "Whatever. Like that's gonna work."

"If it does, then you won't need Shifty anymore. You'll be your own person."

Lifty didn't answer as he stared down at his bare feet, remembering the horrid nightmare he had last night. That single dream alone made him realize that if he didn't change soon, Flaky would give up and maybe even send him away. The last thing he wanted was to have to go back to Shifty and suffer under his brother's cruelty and have him boss the younger twin around again.

No, he was going to change. Even if it killed him.

Lifty brought his gaze back up to Flaky, who watched the thief as he stood up. He embraced the girl and she hugged him back without hesitation. The two friends didn't move or speak as they stood for a few moments, just holding each other before Lifty let go and gave her a grin.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's party."

 

* * *

 

The week before the party came and went in the blink of an eye. During that week, Flaky couldn't help but notice a change in Lifty. He started to help her with chores around the house without even having to be bribed to do it. He was nicer to her friends when he saw them, not outright showering them with love, but also wasn't insulting them or trying to annoy them. She even came home one night after a late work shift to find Lifty made dinner for them, washed the dishes he dirtied, and even put them away where they were supposed to go. All without a need for something in return.

Flaky was more than pleased in this sudden change in her friend and knew if he kept this up at the party, then he'd surely be accepted by everyone without question.

The few hours before the party was busy. But luckily true to her word, Giggles took care of nearly everything. Getting several other people like Handy, Mime, and Nutty to lend a hand, Flaky's backyard was transformed into a party hotspot. There were lights strung up around a few trees in her yard, a table covered in sweet treats and a few drinking kegs were in the far corner. There was even two huge stereos, cords running from the huge speakers back into Flaky's house, which would blare any and all kind of music for people to enjoy.  Everything was set and ready. There was only one thing missing: the cake.

Hell, every party needed a cake!

Giggles knew there was only an hour or so until Flaky's backyard would be packed, so she had to think fast. Seeing Nutty as the closest person around, she quickly rushed over to him.

"Nutty! I got a job for you."

Nutty smiled wide, clapping as he chuckled, "Oh boy! Oh boy! What kind of job!?"

"Run down to Pop's Bakery and grab a cake," Giggles rummaged through her purse, pulling out a twenty dollar bill and handing it to the sugar addict, "Any cake will do, but hurry."

Excited at the prospect of getting an amazing sweet treat like cake, Nutty swiped the money out of the pink-haired girl's hands and dashed off before Giggles could even blink, his high-pitched giggling fading as he disappeared down the street.

The sugar-crazed boy made it down to the bakery within minutes, going inside and bought what he figured was the best looking cake, a medium sized sheet chocolate cake covered in vanilla frosting. He spent the change on a few candy bars for himself and left the store, holding the cake on one hand as the other fed him the sweet chocolate candy. He was intent on keeping the cake from falling and eating his candy that Nutty didn't notice the person walking down the sidewalk until he slammed into them, causing him and the person to crash to the ground. Nutty also happened to drop the cake, but it was in a box so it wasn't harmed thankfully. The person Nutty crashed into gave him a glare as he stood up, dusting off his pants.

"Jesus, you fuckin' cavity! Can't you see I'm walking here!?"

Nutty was back on his feet and this time had two hands on the cake box as he let out a nervous giggle, "Sorry, I was just had to hurry! Giggles needs this cake for Lifty's party!"

The man's angry expression left and a frown appeared as he eyed the sugar freak before him, "What are you talking about? A party for my brother?"

"Oh! Oh! I know you! You're Shifty, Lifty's brother," Nutty smiled grew as he recognized the twin, "You should come to the party too! It'll be so amazing! There will be cake, and music, and cake! But I gotta go, bye Shifty!"

Then before Shifty could even question him Nutty was gone, the sweet smell of chocolate lingering in the air as he dashed off again. Shifty's lips turned upward into an evil grin, chuckling darkly as he muttered to himself.

"So my little brother's having a party without me, eh? Well, that won't do at all."

Shifty put his hands in his coat pockets, silently following the laughter of Nutty down the street. He followed the sugar's addicts squeaking laughter until he was a block away from Flaky's house. Shifty watched as cars pulled up, people getting out and heading towards the front door of the redhead's house. He watched as Lifty opened the door,  inviting a couple guests in, a big smile on his brother's face. He wouldn't be smiling for long though, not if Shifty had anything to say about it.

"Time for a little party crashing."

 


	12. Right All Along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy my fellow nerds, Flannel here!
> 
> Chapter 12 is here and ready for Valentine's Day!
> 
> So get ready and buckle up. Cause we're going for a crazy ride, boys and girls!

Flippy knocked on Flaky's door, having been one of the first people to be invited. At first, he wasn't too sure about going to a party for Lifty, seeing as the two's last couple of encounters ended in them arguing then thief being injured by him. But after Flaky spent a few minutes begging him, saying that Lifty really had changed, he decided he'd better go to see if this was true. He waited a few seconds and then the door opened, revealing a smiling Lifty, who actually seemed pleased to find the war vet standing there for once.

"Hey Flippy! Come on in, the party's in the backyard, but you can put your coat or whatever in the closet down the hall if you wanna."

Flippy was a bit surprised, Lifty didn't spout one insult during his greeting. Maybe he really has changed, a bit anyway, "Oh, thanks Lifty."

"No problem!" Lifty gave a smile and nodded, "And if you need anything just ask either Flaky or me."

Flippy walked past him, going towards the backyard as Lifty shut the door. A couple of minutes went by before a few more people showed up soon after the soldier arrived. Lifty greeted them all warmly, which was met with surprised yet happy faces as they all went to where the party was happening. After it seemed like everyone was here, Lifty closed the door once more and went to join the rest of them, not noticing a figure standing across the street watching him like a hawk.

The party was in full swing when Lifty went outside. Most of the party guests were talking, enjoying the music, or eating the treats from the snack table. As soon as Lifty stepped outside, he was attacked by a red blur rushing toward him. His instincts caused him to flinch, but he soon relaxed as he saw the person was Flaky and she was just running towards him to embrace the thief. Squeezing him tightly, she smiled up at her friend.

"Isn't this g-great? Look at all the people!"

Lifty eyed the backyard and saw several familiar faces. Giggles was near the punch bowl, drinking and smiling as a few of her friends came up to her and told her how amazing the party looked. He watched as Nutty devoured every sweet treat he saw at the snack table, laughing and giggling like he had lost his mind. He saw Mime. . .well miming to be trapped in a small box, much to the amusement of Pop and his son, Cub. He even saw Splendid chatting away with Flippy as the two listened to the music blaring and booming from the speakers.

Lifty felt the normally foreign sense of happiness fill his chest as he watched the scenes before him, a small smile on his face. These people were here because of him. Because of Flaky believing he had some good in his cold heart. Hell, maybe she was right. He then noticed Flaky was still staring up at him, waiting for a reply to her earlier words.

"Yeah. . .it's amazing."

"Everyone's been t-talking to me about how much you've seemed to change. Being nicer to them and all," Flaky let out a happy giggle as she hugged him tighter, "I knew they w-would see it! I knew I was right. You are a good person."

Lifty ruffled the girl's hair as he grinned, "Nope. I'm still the mean ol' crook you know and love. I'm just acting nice, ya know?"

Flaky pouted slightly as he messed up her hair but still managed a smile, "Sure. But acting isn't your strong suit t-though if you don't m-mind me saying."

Lifty simply let out a chuckle and then ruffled her hair a bit more, which caused Flaky to finally let go of him as her hands went up to smooth down her curly locks. Lifty glanced over and saw Flippy making his way over to the two, a cupcake in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Hey Flaky," Flippy turned and gave the other green-haired man a nod, "Lifty."

Lifty shot him a grin as he returned the nod, "Soldier boy."

"Aw, Lifty. That wasn't too nice," Flippy muttered, but for once looking happy to be called that, threw his arm over Lifty's shoulders and grinned, "Do I need to get the book again?"

Flaky slapped the war vet softly, but had a smile on her face, "Flippy! B-Be nice."

Lifty frowned, remembering the stinging pain from the two men's first encounter as he shook his head, "No, no! Just joking'!."

Flippy let out a chuckle at the man's reaction, "Hey! Don't worry, guys. Just a little joke too!"

Flippy then gave Lifty a pat on the back before walking away towards the snack table. Several other people came up to the duo soon after, all chatting with Lifty telling him how nice he really was or how much they misjudged him. Though he barely showed it, Flaky could tell her friend very much enjoyed being the center of good attention for once. This went on for about another ten minutes before everyone stopped as they all heard Giggles' voice boomed over the speakers as she talked into a microphone.

"Everyone! Can I have your attention please?" Giggles waited until everyone quieted down before giving a nod as she continued, "Thank you! Now I'm sure everyone knows why we are all here. We're here to see how much the town's resident troublemaker, well one of them anyway, has changed in such a short time."

Giggles waved a hand to Lifty and he felt everyone's eyes on him. Not knowing what to really do, he just gave a wave and a small grin. Giggles continued speaking, now pointing to Flaky beside the green-haired thief.

"And none of this would have been possible without Flaky helping and pushing Lifty to change! She was the reason he's a different person, she's the reason he's a better person! Anyway I'm gonna quit talking, cause we got a party to throw and cake to eat! So let's get to it!"

The music got a bit louder as Giggles finished her speech, and everyone was back at doing what they were doing. Lifty decided to use the bathroom since by now he had drunk about five cups of punch and nature was calling. He muttered to Flaky that he'd be back and went back inside the house. He went down one of the halls until he found the bathroom. Going in and out of the bathroom in less than a minute, he started to make his way back to the party when he noticed that down the hall towards Flaky's bedroom was the closet, and the door was slightly ajar. Frowning he muttered to himself.

"Coulda swore that door was shut earlier. . ."

Walking down the hall and stopped in front of the closet, he pushed open the door slowly and His heart stopped and his eyes went wide as he saw a familiar face was in the closet, throwing coats, wallets, and other valuables into a sack. And this wasn't a good kind of familiar.

"Shifty?! What the fuck are you doing?"

His brother turned around, a grin on his face. "Oh evening, brother. Don't mind me, just stopping by to see how your little party's going. And I figured I'd help myself to the. . .gifts while I'm here.

Lifty glared as he clamped his hands onto his brother's bag, "Fuck no! You ain't stealin' shit here! Get outta here before someone-"

Lifty's sentence was cut off as he felt pain exploded his knee. Shifty lashed out at his brother with his boot, the hard leather connecting with the twin's unprotected knee. He let go of the sack and put his hand down to clutch his injury. He gritted his teeth, feeling the throbbing pain in his leg as his eye gleamed with murder as they stared at his brother.

"You fucker! That hurt. I'm gonna-"

"Gonna do what? Tell your little  _friends_ your brother's being mean to ya? They ain't gonna do shit. You know why? Cause they aren't really your friends! You got me and only me, so why can't you just give this stupid charade up and go back with me?"

Lifty grabbed at the bag once more, despite fearing if he'd just get a kick in the shin again or something worse as he spat out, "Fuck you! I've told you I'm never coming back! I don't need you anymore."

Shifty didn't reply as he tried to yank the bag of stolen goods away, but Lifty kept his grip and he pulled back. Now the twins were in a tug of war, neither wanting the other to get a hold of the sack. Just when it seemed Shifty was about to win, Lifty pulled hard and Shifty finally let go, hands being ripped from the cloth. The only problem was the weight Lifty put into his pulling caused him to topple backward out into the hall, landing on his ass with a bag of stolen goods.

Smack dab right in front of Nutty.

Before Lifty could even mutter out a single curse, Nutty was yelling at the top of his lungs, sugar increasing his hyperactivity and hysteria as he screamed and hollered.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing hiding in the closet! And hey! That's Flippy's army jacket! And Giggles' purse! Are you stealing!? Oh my God! Lifty's stealing our stuff!  _ **Lifty's stealing our stuff!"**_

That last statement was a shout so loud that Lifty knew someone outside would've been able to hear the sugar's addict's shrieking. Much to his dread, the thief was proven right as Flaky, Flippy, Giggles, and several others heard the yelling and rushed to see what was going on. Everyone stared at the scene in shock, seeing Lifty, now back on his feet, in front of a spilled bag of their stuff.

No one moved or probably even breathed for what seemed like an eternity before Giggles finally stepped forward, anger very much noticeable in her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Lifty held up his hands as he shook his head, "This isn't what it looks like-"

Flippy stepped closer, cutting off Lifty with a glare, "Oh really? What it  _ **looks like**_ is you stealing from us. After everything you. . .after everything you've fuckin' done, I almost thought you changed.

Flippy's hand scooped up his jacket as eyed Lifty up and down one more time, looking genuinely betrayed, before he just turned around and walked away, muttering, "Guess I was wrong."

Lifty watched but did nothing as everyone else grabbed their things from the bag, not meeting the green-haired man's eyes as they too walked out. Soon everyone was gone, save for Flaky, Lifty, and Giggles. The pink-haired girl already picked up her purse but hadn't left as quick as everyone else. She just stared at Lifty, a mixture of anger and sadness in her eyes as she let out a long sigh.

"And here I was starting to wonder if you really were different. But you aren't. You're just like your brother. . ."

Lifty's gaze shot up from his feet up to Giggles, suddenly remembering that Shifty was. . .

Gone.

He turned and saw the closet was completely empty. Somehow, some way, Shifty was gone. And any chance of Lifty setting things right along with him.

Giggles left and now the only person that stood before Lifty, was the last person he wanted to see. Flaky had said a single word since she and others came running, she didn't even move when everyone else left. After Giggles left though, she started to fidget with her sweater sleeves eyes cast to the wooden floor. Her red eyes moved slowly up to the face of Lifty, who stared back at her with a pleading expression.

"Flaky, I-"

Flaky held up a hand, "No. Don't s-speak. Here's what we are gonna do." Flaky moved her hands and started to play with Lifty's green scarf, the one she helped pick out for him just a few hours ago, but now that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"W-We are going to go outside. We are going to clean up the mess. A-And then," Flaky stopped, as she let out a shaking breath, "And then. . .I need you to g-go."

Lifty didn't say a single word, just gave a solemn nod and followed the girl back outside. They cleaned up the party's remains, pulling down the lights the hung in the trees, taking any dishes from the snack table back inside to be washed. Then the two found themselves in the kitchen, Flaky carrying a pile of trays while Lifty followed close behind with several cups and the punch bowl. The dishes were placed in the sink and neither moved after, knowing now it was time for Lifty to go. But he couldn't just go without trying to defend himself, to show his friend he was still good. He just couldn't.

"Flaky, please. I wouldn't do this. You know that I'd never do this to you."

Flaky didn't meet his eyes as she leaned against the counter, "I want to know that. I want to believe you'd never lie to me. But I can't.

"Flaky-"

"I want to be a-able to believe everything you say without questioning it. I want to be able to trust you no matter what," Flaky stopped for a moment as she felt tears in her eyes, and she tried to fight them, only for them to win as they spilled down her cheeks, "But. . But how c-can I when you haven't given me a reason to?"

That stopped Lifty as he realised what she was saying was true. Friends trusted each other, friends never lied to each other no matter what. She never once lied to him, never once gave any reason for him to not trust her. But did he do the same?

No.

He never did anything for her unless he got something out of it, he lied to cover up the stupidest or the smallest things. He wasn't a good friend, he wasn't a good person. Lifty's heart sunk that realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He reached out to put a hand on Flaky's shoulder. She didn't move or try to get his hand off of her as she kept her eyes glued to the floor. She didn't see the thief's eyes that glistened with tears, only hearing him let out a soft whisper.

"Please. Please don't abandon me too. You promised. This isn't you. This isn't the Flaky I know."

Flaky tried harder and harder to hide her emotions, but her voice betrayed her as she stuttered out, "A-And that wasn't the Lifty I t-thought I knew. . ."

He moved his hand down her arm, rubbing it as he tried to comfort her. It didn't work, only succeeding in making her sadder as she felt Lifty's touch. That sadness turned into an emotion she rarely ever felt: Anger.

She let the anger control her as she exploded, tearing his hand off of her.

 _ **"Get out! Get out! Get out!"**_ Flaky's face was a twisted mask of anger and despair as she screamed,  _ **"I don't want you here! Go back to Shifty! Go anywhere! Just get away from me!"**_

Eyes still clamped shut, she started to throw things at him to get him away from her, anything she could grab within arm's reach. Plastic cups, paper plates with half-eaten cake still on them. Then something silver gleamed in Flaky's hand as she threw it. She snapped her eyes open, and both of them watched as a small knife stabbed into Lifty's shoulder. Lifty didn't even felt the blade sink into his skin. He just stared at the black plastic handle jutting out from his body and back up to Flaky's shocked face. He pulled the knife from his arm, letting the blade drop to the ground as he gave a single nod and whispered.

"Okay."

Lifty turned and left, trying hard to ignore the sound of the redhead's despair-filled sobs that rang through the house and stabbed his heart like the knife that pierced his shoulder just seconds ago.

 

* * *

 

Lifty left Flaky's house as he went down one of the town's many streets, only to find himself in front of a store, finding it still open this late into the night. He found the urge to steal come back, even if it was just to distract him from everything that just happened. He entered the store, a small shop filled with knick-knacks and random junk. Lifty saw there was no one else in the store, save for Russell. The pirate hadn't noticed him as he was busy with trying to open a bottle of soda with his hook hands, so Lifty wandered around for a while until he did notice the green-haired man. Eyeing him with his one good eye and a frown, he called out to Lifty who was messing with a display of cheap bobbleheads.

"Yar, lad. What are ye doing? Are ye here to buy something or just here to lollygag?"

Lifty really wasn't in the mood to talk to the town pirate, but he just picked up another bubblehead from the shelf as he muttered, "Leave me alone, eyepatch. I'm just browsing."

Russell's frown grew as he shook his head, "I know who ye are, lad. One of them scruffy seadogs who steal from my good mateys."

Lifty didn't particularly enjoy being called a "seadog" as he slipped one of the bobblehead toys into his sleeve. "Whatever,  _mate_. I'll just be going then."

The pirate seemed pleased to hear that the thief was leaving, only for his eye to catch the bobblehead tucked away in the man's coat sleeve. "Arr, lad! What are ye doing with that? You gotta pay for that!"

"Ha! Like I'm gonna listen to you. See ya later, Captain Peg Leg!"

Lifty kept walking and watched with amusement as Russell tried to get him, wobbling towards him with his peg legs. He ended up getting one of his legs stuck in a hole in the floor and fell flat on his face. Lifty bolted out of the store and didn't stop until he could no longer hear the pirate's cursing coming. He found an alleyway and leaned against another store's wall as he examined his steal. It was a bobblehead of Splendid, the blue-haired hero striking a heroic pose with a goofy big smile greeted him. Then the feeling of a successful theft started to vanish as he realized what he was going on

Here he was in a dark and smelly alleyway with a completely worthless item in his hands. And still being exactly what everyone thought he was. A crook. A thief. A bad guy.

And for once it didn't feel too good being bad.

 

* * *

 

Soon after his little shopping trip, Lifty reluctantly made his way back home. No, not Flaky's house. But back  _ **home**_. Back to Shifty. He knocked on the door of the run-down shack of a house he called home. A few moments passed and Shifty pulled open the door, hiding behind the screen door that separated the front door and the outside. A grin seemed to almost split his face in two as he saw who greeted him.

"Hey there, brother! What brings you here?"

Lifty kept his gaze to the ground as he mumbled, "You know why I'm fuckin' here."

"Ah, guess Flaky and your  _friends_ didn't enjoy finding you with a bag of their junk, am I right? And now, with nowhere and no one else to go, you've come crawling back to me." Shifty's grin grew as he eyed his brother from behind the screen door, "Well, I'll forget all about your little betrayal if you just tell me what I wanna hear."

Lifty felt like he was going to be sick as he stared up at his brother. The words he knew his twin wanted to hear were stuck in his throat, but after a few seconds of straining Lifty spits them out.

"You. . .You were r-right." Lifty spat through grit teeth, "And I was wrong. Please let me come home, Shifty."

Shifty seemed pleased by his brother's groveling apology, so he pulled the screen door open. And regretted it instantly as Lifty's hands shot out, grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him out onto the dead grass. Lifty was advancing on him as the older twin rolled over on his back, hands out defensively in front of him as he shouted out.

"Wait, wait! Hurting me isn't gonna help anything!"

No. No, it won't," Lifty cracked an evil smile as he raised his fist, "But it'll make me feel better."

"Hurting me won't make Flaky forgive you!"

His convincing lie seemed to stop his brother in his tracks as Lifty froze, fist still raised to strike him. Slowly, but surely though he lowered his arm. No longer smiling, he just stared down at his brother, who still cowered on the cold ground.

"Why'd you have to ruin everything? Why couldn't. . ." Lifty's voice cracked with emotion as he felt tears start to drip down his cheeks, "Why couldn't you just let me happy. . ."

Shifty frowned and replied bluntly, "Because I wasn't. We're brothers, you and me. Whether you like it or not, I'm the only person you've got, and you're the only person I've got. So why should you get to be happy when I'm not? No, that's not fuckin' fair. You get what I get, if I'm miserable, then. . .you're fucking miserable with me."

"You're nuts. Fuckin' crazy."

"Maybe so. But I was right, wasn't I?" Shifty gazed up at his brother, and then surprising him his voice took on a comforting, almost pitying tone as he whispered, "Didn't I tell you they weren't really your friends? That they'd only see you as the outcast? But you were an idiot and didn't listen. Now you got hurt and you only got yourself to blame."

Lifty didn't answer as he just stared into the older twin's eyes. Shifty saw the pained sadness behind the glazed over look that clouded his brother's green eyes. He saw how emotionally destroyed he was and watched as Lifty didn't say a single word to him. Instead, the younger brother turned and walked back towards the front door. He pulled it open, stopping for a moment as he stared at the entrance to his old house. Just like his nightmare, he was back here yet again. Only this time there were no invisible hands yanking him against his will into the house, this time he was walking in there because he wanted to. Because he needed to.

And somehow, some way. . .that was even more terrifying.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter was a rollercoaster. But I hope you guys enjoyed it and don't forget to post a review to let me know what you thought! I know I say this a lot, but it really does help and shows me that you guys are getting involved with my stories.


	13. A Stranger Called My Brother

Flaky wished she couldn't feel anything.

Feeling absolutely nothing would be a welcome escape to the torture of her emotions. Four days had passed since the party and Lifty leaving. She wished she hadn't spent those four days locked in her room, crying and sleeping. Sometimes she would cry so much that she grew so weary that she ended up passing out. She wished she hadn't spent those long hours thinking about the green-haired man who changed her life, only for him to destroy it right in front of her. All in a few short weeks.

How could one person make her feel so utterly heartbroken? How could they have such an impact on the shy redhead's emotions? Because she cared about him. Because even after everything, she missed the green-haired troublemaker. She missed him so much that it seemed like her self-induced depression was hurting her physically as well as emotionally. She could almost feel her heart being stabbed every time she pictured his grinning face flashing across her mind.

Flaky heard a knock at her door, rousing the girl out of her trance-like depression. She rose wearily from her bed, still wrapped in a blanket as she waddled slowly down the hallway towards the front door. She made it to the door, pulling it open and saw Flippy on her front porch. He gave a small smile at his friend as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him before turning to face the redhead.

"Hey, Flakes."

"Hi Flips," Flaky murmured, as she stared at the man's boots, "What a-are you doin' here?"

"I came by to see how you've been holding up since. . ." Flippy stopped, knowing it probably wouldn't be the best idea to mention Lifty right now, ". . .Since the party. . ."

"Y-You mean besides feeling like someones tore my heart out and s-stomped on it?" Flaky's red eyes darted up to meet Flippy's green ones, "Besides that I'm f-fantastic. . ."

Flippy frowned and tried to put a comforting arm around her, only for the girl to move away and shake her head. Sighing, he leaned against the door as he looked at his friend.

"Flaky, you shouldn't let him get to you so much. Lifty's not worth all this."

"I'm s-sorry, but you're wrong. . ." Flaky muttered, a small frown forming on her lips, "He's w-worth everything to me. . .and I-I hate that."

"Then let him go, Flakes."

"I-I can't," Flaky's voice quivered and she blinked as tears started to blur her vision, "I just can't. . ."

Flaky couldn't let Lifty go. No matter how hard she tried or how much she knew she needed to, she just couldn't. She needed Lifty.

Even if he didn't need her.

_**X X X** _

But he did need her.

Lifty had sunk deep into the old worn out couch as he stared at the static on the television screen, trying hard to forget the first person who treated him like a human being, rather than a common crook.

Her happy smile, her redhead curly hair, her shining eyes. All those fleeting images bounced around in his skull and no matter what he couldn't shake them away.

Flaky gave him shelter when no one else would, she gave him her friendship without hesitation. She even threw him a damned party cause she thought he wasn't the utter human trash he eventually turned out to be regardless. She hadn't deserved any of the pain he, or to be more exact Shifty, put her through. Shifty ruined his life, just because he wasn't happy. What kind of brother does that?

Suddenly the life-ruiner in question tapped his brother between the eyes, getting an annoyed glare at the younger twin as he was torn from his thoughts.

"What?"

Sorry, did I interrupt the riveting show you're watching?" Shifty grinned, satisfied in annoying Lifty, "Time to get going."

"Where we going?"

"It's a secret. A little fun for us."

Lifty really didn't want to move from his spot on the couch, but he knew his brother wasn't gonna take no for an answer. So he stood up and followed his brother out of the house. They got in the twin's van and Shifty started the vehicle, driving away from the run-down shack of a house and down the road into the town.

While they continued their journey into town, Lifty rested his hand under his chin as he spaced off. He soon found his thoughts returning to what his brother told him just before he ruined his life.

_". . .Aren't really your friends."_

_"You got me and only me."_

Was what Shifty told him actually true? Did he really have no one else but his brother to depend on? No, he was wrong. Lifty did have friends. Well,  _ **had**_  friends. He had Flaky, the sweet and shy girl who saw the good buried deep in his cold heart. Flippy started to like him, even teasing him during the part in a friendly way. Both Giggles and Flippy didn't like him at first, but then they saw he changed and soon they accepted him. Lifty even considers the sugar addict Nutty to be a friend. Though their only conversation was brief and laced with antagonistic vibes on Lifty's end, the thief saw the sugar-loving boy was one of the few people besides Flaky who didn't outright hate him when everyone else had.

But now he had no one but Shifty. Just like his brother said.

While Lifty was deep in thought, Shifty was busy with keeping his eyes on the road as they drove around town, only to catch the twin day-dreaming once more out of the corner of his eye, glancing over at his brother with a small frown.

Since his return just four days ago, Lifty barely spoke to him. He just went straight into the living room, flopped down on the couch and didn't move. Shifty was surprised to find Lifty still sitting there when he woke up the next morning and went out to the living room. Finding his brother with the same pained sadness clouding the younger twin's eyes as he stared straight ahead, unblinking and unmoving.

Shifty's frown deepened as he realized this was all Flaky's fault. She changed his brother into a person he didn't recognize, morphed him into a stranger. What gave the redhead the right to change his family? She wasn't his family, she couldn't just mess with the one person who understood him. It wasn't right.

Flaky fixed Lifty. Now it was time for Shifty to break him.

For good this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey nerds! Flannel back with another chapter!
> 
> Sorry, this one is kinda short, but it's been about a week or so since I last updated this story and wanted to get this out for Friday! Hope you guys enjoyed regardless and have a wonderful weekend!
> 
> Don't forget to leave a review if you wanna. Helps out a lot :)


	14. Not Quite Artsy

The theater was the last place Flaky wanted to be, but Flippy was tired of his friend moping around and decided to take it upon himself to get her out and about. So here they were, sipping on drinks and watching the act that Mime was putting on. The purple-haired mute pretended to walk in the wind, the invisible breeze ruffling his clothes and pushing him back as he struggled against it and after that, he pretended to pull a heavy object with a rope as he silently grunted with effort. The sight would normally make Flaky smile as she enjoyed the antics that Mime put on, but the nagging voice of Lifty wouldn't let her enjoy the show as they bounced around her head.

"Flaky, please. I wouldn't do this."

"Please don't abandon me too. You promised."

What kept coming back in her mind the most was the hurt she saw in his eyes as he stared at the knife in his shoulder, the knife she threw. He then turned his eyes to lock them with the redhead, the heartbreaking acceptance in his voice as he just muttered an "okay" before leaving.

She was roused from her thoughts though, by Flippy shaking her lightly. She snapped back to reality as she glanced at the green-haired war vet, who in turn gave her a worried smile.

"Hey, you okay? You spaced off there for a sec."

"Fine", Flaky mumbled, only to notice people in the theater were starting to leave, "Is the s-show over?"

Flippy nodded as he rose from his seat, "Yeah, just finished up. We aren't done just yet. We got one more stop before I take you back home."

"Where are we going n-now?" Flaky followed the soldier out of the theater and into the brightly outside area.

"It's a secret. A little fun for us."

So without even really answering the redhead's question, Flippy led her to his jeep and the two hopped in and began their drive to this mystery destination. Flaky couldn't sit still though and started to fidget in her seat and run her hands over her legs in an attempt to keep moving and keep her mind occupied. Flippy noticed his friend's growing anxiety and took his hand off of the wheel to place a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Flaky, calm down," Flippy grinned as he eyed his friend, "This won't be that bad."

"I wouldn't be so nervous if y-you'd just tell me where we're g-going."

Flippy didn't answer as he saw they were already at their final stop. He pulled into the parking lot and found a suitable spot. Getting out of his jeep, Flaky eyed the large building they arrived at with a confused expression.

"The Happy Tree Art House? W-Why are we at the museum?"

Flippy had also gotten out of his vehicle and made his way over to stand next to her, "Cause you love art. And I figured a couple of hours in here will be just what you need to cheer up." 

Flippy started to walk away, towards the entrance of the building and leaving the redhead behind. Flaky didn't follow at first, unsure that this would really help her, but she knew she couldn't just stay trapped inside her house, crying and sleeping for the rest of her life. And maybe this could help, especially being around one of her best friends. So she gave a small smile, the first one in days, and followed Flippy inside.

It's just too bad that lost in her now positive thoughts, the redhead didn't notice the beat-up green van parked across the lot, a pair of mischievous green eyes watching her every move.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Shifty turned off the van's engine and found that Lifty had fallen asleep. Frowning, he tapped his brother on the back of his head, earning a startled jump followed by an annoyed frown from the younger twin as he was torn from his nap.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. We're here."

Lifty rubbed his eyes and grumbled, "And where the fuck is here exactly?"

"Here is the Happy Tree Art House, little brother."

"Yippee," Lifty muttered sarcastically, glancing at his brother with a bored expression before he stared out the window at the street, "Why are we here?"

"C'mon, bro. Don't tell me spending all that time with little Miss Shy made you forget what we're best at?" Shifty shot his brother a grin as he snickered, "We're gonna rob the joint, just like old times! It'll be great."

Lifty frowned, now turning to stare at his twin, "No, I'm not doing this. It ain't right."

Shifty's grin vanished as he tried his best to hide his disappointment. This. This is what Flaky did. That stuttering redhead made his brother a weakling, a little boy too afraid to do something bad in case he got in trouble. It was pathetic. The older twin's mood suddenly brightened as an idea popped up in his head. His smile returned as he leaned in close towards Lifty.

"Lifty, you don't need to change. Not for that red-haired scaredy-cat. Not for anyone." Shifty wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders, "She had no right to try and change what you are and always will be: a thief."

"But Flaky wouldn't want me to do-"

"Flaky threw you out, little brother. Like trash. Even after she said she trusted you, she still kicked you to the curb in the end. Who the hell cares what she wouldn't want you to do?"

Shifty's honeyed words were having an effect on the thief as he started to get angry. Angry enough that he ended up forgetting that Shifty was the cause of this mess. Angry at Flaky for fooling him. Angry at himself for being so stupid as to believe her lies. Who did Flaky think she was? Trying to fix him like he was broken? Like fuck he was!

"Alright," Lifty nodded, "Let's do it."

Shifty grinned and clapped his sibling on the shoulder, "Atta boy! I knew you'd come back 'round!"

Lifty got out of the van and went around back to the van's back doors, pulling them open. He scanned his eyes around the back, seeing all the twin's old equipment and started to rummage around for the right tools. Shifty watched his brother for a moment, only to have his gaze catch the gleam of another car pulling up across the parking lot. He could tell right away that the car belonged to Flaky. Frowning, he kept his eye on the car as he wondered what the hell that redhead was doing here of all places.

He turned to make sure Lifty hadn't noticed the car before seeing his brother was still throwing junk around in the back. He knew if Lifty saw the girl, he would end up either not wanting to go through with their plan or he'd try to talk to her and point the blame back to him. Happy that his brother was distracted, he watched as Flaky and Flippy got out of the car. He could see the girl talking to her friend, but couldn't hear what the two were saying. Then Flippy started walking towards the museum with Flaky following shortly after, easing the older twin's fears that Lifty would end up spotting his old friend. 

Just as the two disappeared inside, Lifty pulled himself from the back of the van, hands gripping two sacks and a couple of crowbars. He watched his brother get out of the van and grab one of the sacks along with a crowbar. Twirling the tool in his hand, Lifty shot his brother a grin.

"Ah. it's good to be back!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The museum was a gigantic building with not one, but two floors of nearly a dozen rooms housing different displays from famous artist paintings to suits of medieval armor. There was even a full-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton on display in the main hall.

Flaky stared in awe at the giant skeleton, marveling how real it looked despite being obviously fake. She had only been to the museum a few times before, but each time always managed to captivate the redhead as she loved the displays and how interesting each of them was. Flippy had an amused smile as he watched his friend's happy face light up as she looked around the museum. He followed her as she ran around, pointing at a display here or there like a small child wanting to show their mother something cool.

"Hey, F-Flips. Look at that! Isn't i-it pretty?"

Flippy nodded, smiling wide as he eyed the painting she was gushing over, "Beautiful, Flakes."

Meanwhile, as the two continued gawking at the various art pieces, Lifty and Shifty were high up, crawling around on their stomachs in the museum's tunnel-like air vents.  It was Shifty's idea to use the vents and Lifty really wanted to backhand his brother for that and then backhand himself to even agreeing to it.

They had to go around the back of the museum and find a tree that was tall enough to meet the height of the roof. They found one and Lifty started to climb up the tree, only succeeding in falling back down as he was halfway up the trunk. A few more attempts and then Lifty was on the roof. Shifty followed so after and found an air duct that led to the inside of the museum. Now here they were, trapped in the claustrophobic vents as the twins crawled around, trying to find somehow to escape the cramped space.

"Next time we pull a heist," Lifty grunted as he continued to pull himself around, "I say we just use the front door."

"Shut it and keep moving. We're almost out, I can feel it."

Lifty looked back to glared at his brother, "You're gonna feel my foot in your head if we don't-Whoa!"

Lifty's threat was cut off as, while he turned his head, he hadn't noticed the vent led straight down and he ended up tumbling down the shaft, falling out onto the museum's marble floor with a thud. Shifty carefully maneuvered his way down the vent, landing on his feet next to his brother, a grin on his face as he stared down at Lifty.

"Have a nice fall?"

Lifty got up and dusted off his clothes before grumbling to the older twin, "Shut up."

Lifty glanced around and saw there was no one else in this wing of the building so he led the way around the second floor, eyes darting from each art piece as he passed them. His mind went into overtime, wondering just how much each piece could get them. A few could be worth thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars if sold to the right buyer. There were even a couple medieval armor sets around here that could net a couple of hundred grand each!

Shifty and Lifty wasted no time in throwing several artifacts from the displays into their bags. Several replica weapons, an old looking cup covered in jewels, and a couple of small paintings were all thrown into Lifty's bag. Shifty went across the large second floor towards another pair of rooms to see if he could find any loot worth taking for himself, so Lifty was all alone as he continued filling his bag with the stolen treasures. He was about to venture into another room when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs to the first floor. Trying not to panic and thinking quick Lifty hid his bag behind a display case in the corner and crouched down beside it, partially hidden in the shadows as he watched a familiar face appear at the top of the steps.

His thrashing heart slowed down as he saw that it was only Flippy. Sighing in relief that it wasn't security, he continued to keep an eye on the solider as someone else bound up the steps, stopping his heart when he saw it was the last and only person he wanted to see again.

Flaky.

A twinge of sadness wretched at the thief's heart, seeing how happy his old friend was. Seeing how little his absence affected her, how quickly she dismissed the green-haired man from her life hurt him more than he wanted to admit. Despite his own claims that he didn't need her, despite his earlier anger at her betrayal. He found himself wanting to go over to the two and try to apologize again, even if they wouldn't listen. He was about to rise from his hiding spot and do just that when Flaky started walking towards his hiding spot like she knew he was there. Flippy wandered off, probably to look at the war memorabilia in the other room over. Lifty pressed his back against the wall behind him, trying his hardest to fade into the shadows and silently prayed the redhead didn't notice him.

But of course, she did.

As soon as she walked up to the display, she noticed the green haired thief behind it and stared at him with a confused expression. She hadn't seen the bag of loot hidden just inches away and instead kept her attention on Lifty.

"Lifty? I-Is that you?"

Lifty knew he'd be found, so he just moved out from behind the display and muttered, "Yeah, it's me."

"W-Why were you hiding behind there?"

"Ah, well I noticed you and soldier boy coming up, so I figured it'd be. . .better if you didn't notice me." Lifty rubbed the back of his as he didn't meet the girl's eyes, "Ya know, after everything. . ."

"Oh," Flaky mumbled as she stared down at the floor, "I s-see. . ."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

A moment of awkward silence passed between them as the two realized that neither really knew what to say and even if they did, they didn't know how to say. What could they even say?

"Hey! How has your life been since I destroyed it?"

"Oh, great! How's yours been since I threw you out onto the street?"

No, that wouldn't work at all. The silence went by painfully slow for another couple seconds before Flaky decided she had enough of it.

"So why are you here a-anyway? You don't really strike me as the artsy t-type."

Lifty knew it wouldn't do any good, but he couldn't help it when he let his hurt and anger control his words as he crossed his arms, "Of course not. Cause I'm just a petty crook, right?"

Flaky frowned, shaking her head as she turned beet red, "That's not w-what I meant! I was-"

Lifty held up a hand, cutting her off as he spoke up, "Why are you even talking to me? Shouldn't you be hanging with soldier boy? Or are you here to throw another knife at me?"

"T-That was an accident," Flaky frowned again, hands moving up and down on her arms as she fidgeted in place, "I didn't mean t-to."

Flaky could feel tears beginning to blur her vision, so she wiped her eyes. No, she wasn't going to cry, not in front of him. Lifty pretended not to notice as he leaned against the display case, staring at the redhead before him.

"And I didn't mean to trust you when you took me in your home. I didn't mean to become something different cause I knew it'd make you happy. I didn't mean to think you cared."

Flaky saw something that looked noticeable like hurt flash across Lifty's eyes as he finished his sentence, but it was quickly covered up by a bored indifference as he caught her watching. He knew his brother would be returning from his side of the museum any minute and if Flaky saw the older twin with a bag of the art house's displays, then all hell would break loose for sure. He stood straight and moved to walk away, not before taking one more look at Flaky. He could feel his eyes started to wet and he blinked them away as he grunted out to the girl.

"Thanks for pretending to care, Flaky. See you 'round town. . ."

He left without waiting to see if Flaky would answer, he didn't care if she did. He just needed to get away. So he walked away to find his brother, not looking back.

As soon as Lifty disappeared down one of the museum's hallways, Flippy appeared in the walkway of another and looked around, smiling when he saw Flaky. He walked over to her though and noticed something wasn't right.

"Hey, Flakes? You okay?" Flippy gave her a small worried smile, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Flaky knew she couldn't let the soldier know about what just took place so she put a fake smile on to fool her friend, "Oh! Yea, I'm f-fine!"

Flippy seemed happy with that answer so he didn't press her any further. So the two started to walk away from the display and down the hall to go to look at more displays. Speaking of that display though, it's just too bad for Lifty that, in his haste to get away from the red-haired girl and find his brother, that he forgot completely about his bag hidden away.

It's also too bad that shortly after he and the other two left, a certain blue-haired man stumbled upon the sack of stolen treasure during his own trip the Happy Tree Art House. And then, just as Lifty had figured. . .

All hell broke loose.


	15. Don't Close Those Eyes

Being a superhero was hard work, especially when you weren't the best at it. . 

Splendid needed a break from it all. From his job at the Daily Nut, the town's one and only newspaper. From saving everyone when he knew they could've just saved themselves. So today, he decided, was going to be his day off.

And what better to place to spend his day than at the Happy Tree Art House?

He loved the art pieces and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. So he zipped across town, happily ignoring someone screaming from a burning building, and made it to the museum. When he entered the museum, Splendid noticed there weren't a whole lot of people but was glad about that. Fewer people meant fewer distractions and noise during his trip. The blue-haired hero wandered around for a little while, eyeing the art pieces and enjoying the peace and quiet before heading up to the second floor. The displays on the upper floor were always more interesting, at least Splendid thought so anyway.

Splendid went up to the second floor and began to walk around, eyes going from every display or so. Then he noticed something wasn't quite right. Some of the displays were missing pieces. He knew the artworks were never moved, so who could've moved them? A slight frown on his face, the superhero was about to just leave the museum to let someone know what was going on when he noticed something in the corner of the room. Splendid's frown turned into a scowl as he moved closer to see what it was. Hidden behind one of the displays in the corner was a bag full of those missing artworks.

And he knew exactly who it belonged to.

 

* * *

 

 

Shifty's bag was starting to get heavy and that was good for him. More heavy equaled more money selling off the junk he swiped. The thieving man had his hand outstretched, reaching for a weird-looking gold idol when he stopped, fingers nearly brushing the small statue, as he noticed his brother coming back from his side of the museum.

Empty handed.

Shifty dropped his hand back to his side, a frown on his face as Lifty walked over, the younger twin looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Yo, bro! Where's your bag at?" Shifty eyed his brother, "And what's up with you now? You look like you're gonna shit yourself."

Lifty felt his blood run cold and felt sweat beads start to form on his forehead as he realized he had forgotten his bag when he was trying to get away from Flaky. Lifty gave his brother a nervous smile as he shrugged, "Oh, I guess I forget it over there."

Shifty's curious frown disappeared as his face became a mask of shock and slight anger, "You what?! You idiot, what happens if someone sees it! We'll be screwed."

Lifty held up his hands as he tried to calm down his fuming brother, "Okay, no need to panic. I can just go get it back and no one will-"

"Okay! Where are you two thieving idiots?!"

"Know. . ."

Both twins felt their hearts go into overdrive, hammering and pounding like drums as they heard the unmistakable voice of the last person they wanted to run into that blue-haired idiot himself, Splendid.

And unfortunately for Lifty, the superhero's shout was heard not only by him and his brother but also by Flaky and Flippy who walked out of one the room as they heard Splendid's booming voice. Their eyes immediately went from where his voice was heard towards the two twins. Seeing Lifty, they frowned, locking eyes with the younger twin and Lifty could see they weren't angry at him this time. Only disappointed. And somehow that scared him even more.

Lifty didn't have any time to be really sad about it as he turned away from their judging gaze and saw that Splendid was flying right for the twins. Clenching his eyes shut, he waited for the superhero's fist to ram into his body. Hopefully, he'd be hit hard enough he wouldn't even feel it. But then he opened his eyes a second later as he heard Shifty yell out.

"Oh, I don’t think so!"

He watched as his brother produced a strange glowing green rock in the shape of an acorn. It was Kryptonut, the only known thing that actually harmed Splendid. As soon as the rock was out in view, it's radioactive glow hit Splendid like a truck. He struggled to keep his flight and was sent crashing down at the twin's feet. Splendid groaned in agony, feeling sick to his stomach as Shifty held the Kryptonut closer to the superhero, a cruel grin on his face.

"Not so super now, are we?"

Splendid's only reply was to vomit on the man's shoes. Shifty frowned, seeing his shoes covered in superhero puke and he lashed out, kicking his enemy in the face as hard as he could muster. Splendid's groans only got louder and more pain-stricken as Shifty leaned down to his face and whispered to the suffering hero.

"You caused me a lot of suffering these past couple weeks, Splendid.," Shifty stopped as he stroked the superhero's already sweaty cheek, "Now it's my turn to return the favor. Sounds fair, eh?"

"I'm. . I'm gonna rip you apart. . ." Splendid mumbled before another wave of nausea hit him and he puked once more.

Shifty's cruel grin grew wider as he noticed Flippy and Flaky staring at the scene before them, eyes wide and Lifty could see a hint of yellow start to seep into the soldier's green eyes as he eyed the weapon in the thief's hands. Shifty caught this too, glaring as he shook his head and brandished his weapon at them.

"Ah, ah! You better play nice, soldier boy. The last thing you'd want is to have your little friend take over and hurt Flaky here."

Flippy knew he could just let Fliqpy take over and murder the twins in an instant, but he also knew what Shifty was saying was true. His evil side never cared about sparing innocents, all he cared about was killing. He knew Flaky and the weaken Splendid would be powerless to stop him. So he took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes as he calmed himself down and Shifty watched as the green color came back fully, a smug smile on his face.

"Good boy. That's what I thought."

Shifty turned his gaze back to the weaken superhero at his feet, smiling as he placed the radioactive rock next to Splendid's face, keeping him down for the count as he went back to grab Lifty's bag. No one moved until he came back, the brother's sack thrown over his shoulder. He nodded to his brother before raising his gun, throwing it towards Lifty. What he muttered out next stopped everyone short.

"Kill them."

Lifty caught the small pistol, hands fumbling with the weapon as he held it in his shaking hands. He stared down at the gun and then back up to his brother.

"W-What?"

Shifty groaned, "Jesus, are you deaf? I said kill them. Shoot them with that gun, and fuckin' kill Flaky and Flippy.'

Lifty turned to look at his old friends, both staring back at him with a look of fear on their faces. He raised the gun, hands shaking as he aimed the weapon at Flippy. He locked eyes with Flaky, who was silently pleading him to put it down. His arm wavered and his vision blurred slightly as he realized he was starting to cry. He wiped away the tears with his free arm as then looked around like he was just now seeing what was truly going on around him. His brother staring down at the weaken superhero, eyes full of cruel glee as he gave the hero a hard kick in the side, sending Splendid groaning softly. His old friends staring at him with fear and betrayal on their faces.

What the hell was he doing?

Just a few weeks ago, he was cleaning up his own messes for once, even going so far as to do several other chores. All because he knew it'd make Flaky happy. And he was right as the redhead came home to find him doing that, her smile bigger than he had ever seen. He got thrown a party cause everyone thought he had changed. Now here he was again, being exactly what everyone said he was. Lifty frowned and started to lower his gun. He wasn't going to kill them. He wasn't like his brother. He dropped his arm to his side and watched as Flippy and Flaky gave him small smiles.

He had changed.  He was a good person. He knew it. They knew it.

Too bad Shifty didn't care. Lifty was his brother and he'll be damned if he's gonna lose him to that red-haired scaredy-cat again. He was less than pleased at finding out the first time that his brother didn't need him. So he ruined his new life. And now, now it seemed like it was happening all over again. He was going to be happy and leave his brother again. But Shifty wasn't happy about that And if he wasn't happy.

Then no one would be.

Lifty barely heard his brother whisper the words, "Not again," before he heard a quiet pop and felt a pinch of pain shoot through his lower back. He stared down, eyes widening in shock as he watched as a dark red stain spread across his shirt. He stared back up at Flaky, who screamed out in horror and rushed towards him. Catching him just before his legs buckled, the girl lowered her friend down to the ground softly.

Flippy somehow hadn't flipped out at hearing the gunshot, most likely cause it was a silenced one, but had look away before the blood started to show, so he wouldn't flip out because of that. But he might as well have as he lunged at Shifty, slamming into the older sibling as he grabbed him by the man's coat collar, pushing him over the railing of the second floor. Shifty let out a yell as he fell to the ground floor and a sickening thud was heard as he hit the ground, unmoving.

Flippy rushed back over to where Flaky and Lifty were. Flaky had her hands pressed against Lifty's wound, though there was so much blood that Flippy couldn't be much help. But he got a plan, taking off his army jacket and handed it to Flaky, who nodded gratefully and wrapped the coat around the thief's abdomen, hiding the blood-soaked shirt from Flippy's view.

Flaky was a wreck, sobbing uncontrollably as she cradled Lifty's head in her lap. The thief's eyes threating to close as he struggled to fight the pain burning in his stomach. Flippy knelt down next to him, a look of worry in his eyes as he watched his friend stutter out to the barely conscious Lifty.

"Hey, hey! L-Lifty. Look at m-me. You're gonna be f-fine."

Lifty let out a small chuckle, and stroked the girl's cheek with a weak hand, "You know that. . .ain't true, Flakes."

Flaky pressed her face into his hand, and he felt the warm tears dripping from her cheeks run down his fingers. His eyelids started to feel heavy, but he knew if he shut them he might not open them back up. At least not now, sooner or later he'd come back, but he knew that fact wouldn't make this any easier on the poor redhead. He kept his eyes open for as long as he could, just staring at Flaky as she stroked his hair, muttering that he was going to be okay, mostly to calm herself down rather than to reassure the thief himself.

After a while, it became too much though and he slowly started to shut his eyes, despite hearing Flaky yell at him to keep his eyes open. The last thing he saw was the face of Flaky and Flippy, both just watching him slip away knowing there was nothing they could do. Then Lifty finally shut his eyes.

And everything stopped.


	16. Loneliness Makes People Crazy

Resurrecting after you died usually felt good. You felt refreshed like waking up from a peaceful slumber, ready to try and survive another day. Gone was the pain of your temporary death, replaced by the feeling of your strength and energy returning.

But Lifty didn't feel any of that.

His body felt heavy like someone had put weight down on his chest, and he felt something around his abdomen squeezing him tight. Groaning softly, he shook his head side to side slowly to try and clear the heavy fog that clouded his head. He heard muffled voices and tried to open his eyes, only being rewarded with a red and green blur in front of him.

He felt a wave of sudden drowsiness hit him and he shut his eyes, falling back to unconsciousness. Lifty woke up hours later, feeling a little than before. He was able to open his eyes and see clearly. He turned his head, looking around and saw he was in a darkened hospital room, stripped down and in a patient's gown. The thief then noticed Flaky sitting right next to his bed, snoring softly as she slept. Lifty smiled softly, seeing the girl had tried to wait for him to wake up, only to fall asleep herself. He reached out, running his hand through her curly red hair and she jumped slightly as his touch jolted her from her sleep. She stood up and before he could even blink, Lifty felt her arms wrap around his neck as she held him tightly.

"I-I thought you w-were dead. . ." Flaky whimpered, as she held him tighter as though he'd fade away if she let him go.

"Takes more than a little bullet to put me down, sweetheart," Lifty wrapped an arm around her back and murmured into her neck, a small grin on his face. He then pulled away and raised an eyebrow as he wondered out loud, "So how did I get here anyway?"

F-Flippy drove you in his jeep while I ," Flaky sniffled as tears came to her ruby red eyes, "You were so p-pale. I thought I was gonna l-lose you again."

Lifty frowned, and asked the question he dreaded, "What happened to my brother?"

"In the c-confusion to get you to stop bleeding, we forgot a-about him," Flaky said, pinching a lock of her red hair between her fingers, "When we went to get him, he was gone."

Lifty's frown deepened as he let events of the past few hours sink in. His brother had tried to kill him. His own flesh and fucking blood tried to murder him simply because he refused to hurt his friends. His real friends. And now he was gone and Lifty was wasting away in a grimy hospital bed with a fucking hole in his stomach. Several emotions flickered across the thief's eyes and Flaky barely saw them before they vanished by his signature bored gaze. But she saw them alright. She saw the pain of betrayal with being shot by his own family. She saw the hint of anger and what almost looked like regret.

Lifty opened his mouth, ready to say what was on his mind, only to be interrupted by the door to his room opening. Lumpy poked his head, dressed in a doctor's coat and gave a dopey smile at the patient before him.

"Hey, guys! Sorry but Flaky needs to leave. Visiting hours are over for the night."

Flaky was more than a bit reluctant to go, but Lifty just waved her away, saying that he'll be okay for the night. She nodded, is a little unsure, but went ahead and left the room after giving Lifty one more hug.

Lifty let out a sigh when everyone was gone and he was finally alone, feeling the day's events catch up with him as he felt exhausted mentally as well as physically. He shut his eyes, starting to quietly doze off before he heard the door to his room open again. He didn't even open his eyes as he let out a grumble, thinking it was Lumpy again.

"What do you want now, doc? You think I'm a visitor too?"

"No, I think you're my brother."

Lifty's eyes snapped open as the voice greeting him wasn't the blue-haired moron, but the one of his brother. He stared at Shifty, who stared back with an expression that made it seem like he hadn't just shot him a few hours ago. Lifty felt anger boil his blood and had to use all of his willpower to keep from throwing himself at his older brother.

Instead, he just glared, gritting his teeth as he spat out, "What the fuck are you doin' here?"

"I'm here to see how my brother's doing."

"Oh, I'm fantastic," Lifty scoffed, "Not like my own brother fucking  _ **shot**_ me or anything, right?"

"I had to. I knew you'd just abandon me again," Shifty frowned, "Like last time, you'd get to be happy with your new life," Shifty's eyes gleamed dangerously as he stepped closer towards his weaken brother, "While I just rotted away in that dump of a house. Alone."

Lifty's heartbeat quicken as his brother got in his face, his own face was a mask of anger. It seemed his brother's fall earlier had more than scrambled his already messed up psyche. He backed away, pressing his back against the pillows behind him as he tried to distance himself from his twin.

"Are you serious?" Lifty eyed his brother, a hint of pity mixed with disgust in his eyes, "Are you that fuckin' delusional that you still think all this my fault?

"It is! If you hadn't lost our loot in that heist, then none of this would've happened!"

"I didn't mean to! It was a mistake, you moron!"

I know! That's why I tried to find you, but I couldn't! It's like you just vanished. Then I saw you in the supermarket and tried to get to come back, but you wouldn't."

"You didn't want me before, you kicked me out like I was trash. Why would you want me then?"

"I was wrong, cause you are my brother!," Shifty's voice cracked with genuine emotion as he felt tears come to his eyes, "And I was gonna be damned if I was gonna lose my only family to the people who've done nothing, but outcast us since day one!"

Shifty buried his face in his hands as he stared down at his boots, saying nothing else. Lifty frowned, remembering just how alone the two brothers felt when they moved to Happy Tree Town. Even before they started their thieving antics, the twins were alienated due to their own isolated behavior as youths and the already close-knit bond the rest of the town shared. He knew how it felt when you only had family. He knew what it was like to alone and shunned simply because of who you were. Lifty knew his brother was crazy, but he also knew that in his own crazed and twisted way, Shifty loved him. He was just scared of being alone and would do anything to not lose his brother. Even if it meant killing him and everyone he cared about.

The younger twin reached out, grasping his brother's shoulder with his hand. His touch made Shifty react as he raised his head to stare at the other green-haired man with a frown and confusion in his emerald eyes.

"You're nuts, Shifty," Lifty had a small grin on his lips, "And you're my brother. No matter what."

"You're not mad that I shot you?" Shifty smiled sheepishly

"Oh, no! Don't worry, I'm pissed." still grinning, Lifty gave his brother a quick smack across the back of the head, "Next time you shoot me, better make sure I stay down."

Shifty grinned despite being hit and let out a chuckle, "Jesus, you're a dick."

"Love you too, bro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, another chapter down the drain!
> 
> Yippe!
> 
> And I got some bad news~ (or good news depending if you hated this story)
> 
> The next chapter is going to be the finale! The final chapter of Criminal Love! Oh, boy oh boy!
> 
> So stay tuned next week for that and I do hope you all are enjoying this story and as always, don't forget to leave a review to let me know how much of an edgy hipster I am!
> 
> Thanks and love you nerds!
> 
> ~ Flannel


	17. Home (Final Chapter)

It took nearly a week for Lifty to be healthy enough to leave the hospital. Being shot tends to make you weaker than if you weren't laying around with a bullet in the gut. He didn't visit anyone, not even Flaky, after being released. The thief and his brother both half-expected to have Splendid track them down and arrest them.

Or kill them.

Or both.

Although Lifty was more worried about a certain someone that scared him even more than the blue-haired hero. Flaky. He didn't have the guts to see Flaky again, even though after everything all seemed to be good between them. He had a felt weird feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about that redhead, not like the feeling he got when he was first in Flaky's care all those weeks ago. But it felt like something different, something stronger that both terrified him and made him felt happy. He tried to ignore though, brushing it off as the start of a weird illness or something. But it wasn't really any type of illness that was making the green-eyed thief feel this way.

It was love.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Lifty walked through the door of his and Shifty's house. He just now noticed how different it felt and looked from Flaky's house like he was seeing the house through a new perspective. He looked around at certain things in the house. While the twin's couch was old and worn reeking of old food and sweat, Flaky's couch was probably brand new by the looks of it, smelling slightly like the girl's perfume whenever he slept on it. The wallpaper on the walls of his house was cracked and peeling off at the edges, and Flaky's were as white and pristine as the rest of her home. Their carpet was stained with what looked like blood and soda, the redhead's carpet was always soft and clean, like walking on a cloud. His house had Shifty. Flaky's had her.

This house might have been the one he lived in his whole life in, but it wasn't home. Home was with the people who cared about him, the people who loved him. Though he loved Shifty, he was his brother, after all, he also loved Flaky.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

The realization came to him while he was slumped on the old couch, watching an old black and white movie on the twin's crappy television a few days after his stay in the hospital. He sat straight up, as though that single thought had sent a shock through his body. His eyes grew wide and he ran a hand through his forest-colored hair, mumbling softly to himself.

"I love Flaky. . ."

And then as though someone was listening in on his words and waiting for their cue, a knock on the front door sounded that caused Lifty to jump in surprise at the sound. He rose from his human-shaped indent in his couch, making his way through the run-down house towards the front door. He pulled it open and his heat nearly stopped when he saw Flaky standing there, a small smile lighting up her face when she saw he had answered.

"Hey, L-Lifty."

Lifty was still a bit taken aback by the redhead's sudden and quite convenient appearance right after he confessed, but quickly snapped out of it and put on a smile, "Hey, Red. How ya doin'?"

"I'm fine. I need to tell you something t-though,' Flaky was more than nervous as she fidgeted in place and chewed on her bottom lip, "Something i-important."

Lifty could hear and feel his heartbeat going a million miles an hour in his ears as he didn't answer, instead mentally screaming as he freaked out over hearing that, seeing how nervous the girl suddenly got. He managed to spit out a reply, despite his mouth and throat starting to feel like a desert.

"Okay, shoot."

"I love you, Lifty."

Lifty's mouth dropped down and his heart nearly exploded at the bluntness of Flaky's own confession. He watched as she turned beet red and covered her face with her hands, not even waiting for an answer before starting to go off on another ramble again.

"I know, I k-know. It's weird. We've only really started to get to k-know each other a couple of weeks ago. And things didn't g-go so well in the end," Flaky uncovered her face, a small smile on her face, "But, I wouldn't c-change those last few weeks for anything in the w-world."

"I. . .I. . ."

Lifty stopped as he realized couldn't find the right words to answer her. So he didn't use words to tell her how he felt. He showed her. Hands trailed up to cup her face as he leaned in close, he locked eyes with the redhead before closing the gap between their lips in a soft slow kiss. That strange feeling he felt earlier came back like a tidal wave, crashing down and soaking him in its intoxicating buzz. He pulled away reluctantly from the kiss as he kind of need to breathe. Both of them were red in the face and Lifty had his trademark grin on as he eyed the girl.

"I think it's time to go home, don't you think?"

 

 

* * *

 

 

After gathering up some of his personal things, Lifty explained the situation to his brother. Shifty didn't seem to upset about his brother leaving again, instead just gave him a small smile and a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Just don't forget about your big brother too soon. Okay?"

Lifty smiled and slapped his brother on the back, "Oh, how could I forget about the guy who shot me?"

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

Lifty grinned, "Never."

Then it was time to go. Lifty and Flaky piled into her small red car and started the drive back home. They made it back to Flaky's house and the thief was about to open his door to get out when he was stopped by Flaky locking the doors. He frowned and stared at her, confused.

"Why'd you lock in the door, Flakes?"

"Just stay here for a second. Okay?"

Then before Lifty could even question the girl, Flaky unlocked her own door and hopped out, bolting towards her house and leaving the confused man in her passenger seat. He counted the seconds as they ticked by, waiting for her to return from whatever it was she was doing. Lifty got up in the hundreds before he noticed Flaky coming back. He opened his door and eyed the girl as she grabbed his arm, starting to pull him around towards her backyard. He questioned her as he followed her.

"Why'd you make me wait?"

"You'll see."

"Why are we going into the backyard?"

"You'll see."

Lifty was about to open his mouth to ask another question when the backyard came into view and he shut up quickly. Standing in the girl's backyard was every single townsperson. Nutty, Flippy, Lammy, Giggles, Lumpy, everyone was here. They all stood under a banner that hung in the trees, and he noticed the words that were painted on.

_"You're A Good Bad Guy, Lifty!"_

Lifty grinned at the words and turned his gaze to Flaky, who was watching the thief's face for his reaction. She smiled brightly as she giggled.

"S-Surprise!"

"What's all this?"

"Everyone heard about how you saved Flaky and Flippy in the museum," Giggles stepped forward, a genuine smile on her face as she answered the man's question.

Flippy nodded, finishing her sentence, "And Flaky wanted us to throw you a party, another one, to show you that we were wrong about you. You actually aren't that bad after all, Lifty."

Lifty didn't answer, instead just choosing to smile as he realised what was going on. Where he was right now, with all of his friends and the redhead who made it all possible. He knew exactly where he was.

He was home.

__

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow.
> 
> It's over. It's finally over.
> 
> A little background on this story for all of you who don't know (which is probably everyone). This story was the first fanfic I ever wrote and published online for other people to read almost three years ago. Needless to say, it wasn't that good looking back, so I gave it a little facelift with this rewrite and I'm extremely happy at how it turned out. And this new version has nearly double the number of chapters the original had!
> 
> That being said, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed rewriting old fanfic that's close to my heart.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me until the end :)
> 
> Until next time. . .
> 
> I'm HipsterInAFlannel and hope you all have a wonderful wonderful day!


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